We knew it was gonna be a special night when, the day beforehand, there was someone already camped out on the pavement outside the Purple Turtle. Well, OK, we knew it was gonna be a special night a couple of months earlier, when the Manics camp first approached us about hosting a solo gig from the Wire, and the anticipation had been building for weeks (firstly with our coy promises of a ‘VERY special guest’, then actually going public), but seeing people queuing up made it seem so much more real.
On the afternoon of the 1st, we heard there were now six campers. By the time we turned up on the evening itself, the queue was stretching to the corner of Eversholt St. Inside the Turtle, it was impossible not to get a thrill from seeing Nicky Wire standing on the Purple Turtle stage in his pink suit (as much a trademark of his solo campaign as Martin Bell’s white suit in the election), soundchecking in front of the neon Stay Beautiful sign we’d had made, if not exactly specially for the occasion, then certainly rushed its manufacture to get it ready in time.
Stepping off the stage, he admitted that even though he’d already made his live debut in Hay-On-Wye a few weeks earlier, he was nervous about the first London meeting of Nicky Wire’s Secret Society because “this is London, it’s different”.
When the doors were finally flung open to the sound of MSP’s “Motorcycle Emptiness” (the orchestral instrumental mix by Apollo 440), the first 20-or-so people in the queue rushed to the front and wouldn’t let go for the next 3 hours.
We didn’t reveal the neon sign at first, masking it with the video screen, on which we showed Rumblefish (one of Richey’s favourite films, as any Manics saddo will be aware). When we rolled the screen up and switched the neon on, it would be lovely to think that the “oooh” was an expression of appreciation, but it probably meant “oooh, Nicky Wire’ll be on soon!”
For the pre-Wire hours, we played a lot of loosely (or not so loosely) Manics-related tunes, and anything else that seemed right, to build up the excitement (as if there was any need). There was an awkward quarter of an hour when word reached us that Wire wasn’t in the building yet, and was having trouble finding a cab. We had visions of the Roger Moore episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, with Simon in the Alan Partridge role. At last, Wire and his entourage swept into the room, too suddenly for the pre-arranged Sex Pistols “Johnny B Goode/Roadrunner” intro music (bit of a lack of communication, and he had to make do with Bowie’s “Suffragette City” instead).
If he was nervous, he did a damn good job of hiding it. (Maybe he’d taken advantage of the bottles of Pinot Grigio we’d left in the dressing room.) Just like Hay-On-Wye, it was 50% rough-around-the-edges rock’n’roll, 50% stand-up comedy. Wire’s admittedly amateurish guitar playing, and a voice which compensates with enthusiasm what it lacks in technique, were offset by his excellent backing band The Secret Society, marshalled by drummer and long-time Manics collaborator Greg Haver (about whom a camera crew were making a documentary).
Between songs, Wire seemed to be auditioning for the next series of Grumpy Old Men, ranting about the fact that school dinners are all fresh fruit and veg these days (whereas he grew up on KP chicken crisps), and making a peculiar political comparison: “In the Manic Street Preachers Labour Party, I’m the Dennis Skinner type: the maverick who doesn’t give a fuck what he says or does. James is the Gordon Brown: solid, dependable. And Sean is the Peter Mandelson: hiding in the corner, scheming, waiting to fuck us all over with his Depeche Mode techno album.”
In addition to just about every song from Wire’s forthcoming album, we got snatches of Manics (“From Despair To Where”, and his personal theme tune “Mr Carbohydrate”), and covers of the aforementioned “Roadrunner” and The Who’s “Substitute”. The crowd reaction, and the general atmosphere, was incredible. There can never have been so many photographers, amateur and professional (including Mitch Ikeda), snapping away, but the desire to record the event for posterity didn't diminish the exhilaration of the moment at all.
We’d been worrying beforehand about how we were going to get Wire safely off the stage and out of the building. In the event, he took matters into his own hands and, possibly for the first time in his life, stagedived!
Amid the commotion, with Wire getting mobbed for autographs, we attempted to carry on with the rest of the night: the Watering Can Song (Nelly Furtado’s “Man Eater”), the Style Medics (Jenna and Jodie attacking the glamour-challenged with make-up), the competition (Peaches albums, and about 50 pink cardboard ‘Impeach My Bush’ penises, one of which Nicky Wire actually signed, and we fully expect to see on eBay sooner or later…), and our guest DJ Jasper Milton of White Rose Movement (who played an electro-based set, which was probably just as well since we’d been almost entirely rockist up until that point).
A large number of the Wire fans stuck around while we played fairly shameless Greatest-Hits-plus-Manics sets and, by the amount of stage-invading and pole-dancing that went on, seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Hopefully we’ve made a lot of new friends who’ll be back for more…
Speaking of which, the next Stay Beautiful is on Saturday 5th August, and it’s our Summer Party. (Prior to that, we’re having our annual Picnic in Waterlow Park, Highgate at 3pm on Sunday 23rd July, and everyone is welcome!)
*VIDEO FOOTAGE*
A handful of video clips have turned up on Youtube, courtesy of a certain Cherryblossomtree. If you sniff around, you might find more...
"From Despair To Where"
"Mr Carbohydrate"
Talking about computers
Talking about school food
*WHAT WE ACTUALLY PLAYED*
SIMON PRICE
Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness (Stealth Sonic Orchestra instrumental)
Johnny Mandel - Theme from M*A*S*H
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TONY MAGGS
PJ Harvey - Dry
Shocking Blue - Send Me A Postcard
The Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy
Suede - Killing Of A Flash Boy
Gary Numan - Cars
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE
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SIMON PRICE
Johnny Boy - You Are The Generation Who Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Shampoo - Bouffant Headbutt
X Ray Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours
Public Enemy - Bring The Noise
Towers Of London - Fuck It Up
Daisy Chainsaw - Love Your Money
Hole - Violet
Robin Johnson - Damn Dog
Hedwig And The Angry Inch - Angry Inch
Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
Peaches - Rock Show
White Rose Movement - Girls In The Back
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Aerosmith - Dude Looks Like A Lady
Guns N’Roses - It’s So Easy
The Rolling Stones - It’s Only Rock’N’Roll
Public Enemy - Don’t Believe The Hype
The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
David Bowie - Suffragette City
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NICKY WIRE’S SECRET SOCIETY (live onstage)
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SIMON PRICE
T.Rex - 20th Century Boy
Placebo - 36 Degrees
Marilyn Manson - Rock Is Dead
Nelly Furtado - Man Eater (Watering Can Song)
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her (competition)
Manic Street Preachers - Sleepflower
Pink Grease - Fever
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JASPER MILTON (WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT)
Lots of electro and punk-funk stuff we didn’t recognise, and a handful of oldies we did:
Soft Cell - Memorabilia
Bauhaus - Telegram Sam
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Messages
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SIMON PRICE
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Manic Street Preachers - Revol
The Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism
David Bowie vs. The Killers - Somebody Dance (Base 58 mash-up)
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin’
Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
Suede - Trash
Justice vs. Simian - We Are Your Friends
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Tiga - You Gonna Want Me
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TONY MAGGS
Peaches - I Don’t Give A Fuck
Goldfrapp - Ooh La La
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf
The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Flying Lizards - Money
Felix Da Housecat with The Pop Tarts - Money Success Fame Glamour
Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi
Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
Placebo - Nancy Boy
Guns N’Roses - Paradise City
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SIMON PRICE
Manic Street Preachers - Motown Junk
The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
Pulp - Babies
Sparks - This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us
Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb
Fischerspooner - Emerge
David Bowie - Heroes
Manic Street Preachers - Stay Beautiful
(The Muppets - Mah Nah Mah Nah)
Picture 1 by Simon Price. Picture 2 by Tony Maggs. Pictures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 by Nikkie Amouyal. Pictures 10, 11 and 16 by Jodie Lowther. Pictures 12 and 13 by Heike Schneider-Matzigkeit (http://www.thyshell.com). Picture 14 by Nic Grant (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicasaurusrex), Picture 15 from unknown source.