Although the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers, announced only some months ago an upcoming hiatus for the band, The Manics are about to hit the road and start their first European tour in ten years. Starting in April, the band’s tour will touch several European cities, heading then to Japan.

A few months ago, bassist Nicky Wire told NME magazine “It’s the end of an era, not the end of the band, but we’re going to disappear for quite a long time,” and then went on to explain the reasons behind the band’s decision, “Ideally, we have to push ourselves to do something that we haven’t done before. But I do feel it is going to be at least two or three years before we come back after this greatest hits collection.”

Manic Street Preachers, composed of frontman James Dean Bradfield, bassist Nicky Wire and drummer Sean Moore, released in October 2011 the compilation album National Treasures – The Complete Singles, after the release of their latest studio album, Postcards From A Young Man, in 2010.

The singles collection was the center of Manic Street Preachers’ supposed last live performance in a while, which took place at the London O2 Arena, last December. 20,000 people assisted to an intriguing performance of the band, enriched by collaborations on stage with artists such as Nina Persson (Cardigans), and Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals).

Right when fans started preparing for the Manics’ absence from the live scene, the band announced their upcoming tour, already in January .

Nicky Wire told NME “We’ll be doing small bits, obviously [in] places you go [to] less. You’ve still got to satisfy fans’ needs so there’ll still be little gigs around the rest of the world… In terms of the U.K., we just need to disappear into our own world, into our studio…” Clarifying the band’s position, Wire said “We’re not really going to be taking a break from music. We’ll be making music for ourselves and figuring out what we can do to still have a place in this ever-changing world, if we can.”

Hence, the concert at the London O2 Arena has to be considered as a farewell to the homeland live scene and to big shows for a while. Wire hints an exception though “Even if we just busk on the streets in Blackwood [South Wales], we could do that. But as far as proper gigs in the UK, we said we’d go away and we will.”

Fans outside the U.K. will be able to enjoy the performance of a selection of Manic Street Preachers’ singles, following them on the road, re-experimenting the taste of small gigs. Here are the band’s upcoming tour dates:

15 April COPENHAGEN, Amager Bio
16 April HAMBURG, Markthalle
18 April THE HAGUE, Paard van Troje
19 April AMSTERDAM, Paradiso
21 April ANTWERP, Trix
22 April COLOGNE, E-Werk
24 April BERLIN, Huxleys
25 April PRAGUE, Lucerna
27 April MUNICH, Theaterfabrik
28 April VIENNA, Arena
30 April ZURICH, X-tra
2 May BARCELONA, Razzmatazz
17 May TOKYO, Studio Coast
18 May TOKYO, Studio Coast

Image Courtesy of   Northfoto / Shutterstock.com

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About the author

Veronica Cinti
Italian native, extremely passionate about music in general. Although she appreciates a wide variety of music genres, her strongest field of expertise is Rock music, Grunge and Punk among its styles. Contact the author: veronica.cinti@toonarimedia.com; Follow Veronica on Twitter: @VeronicaCinti