MANIC Street Preachers delved deep into their Archives of Pain on Saturday night, April 9, to resurrect fan favourites from arguably the band's finest hour - The Holy Bible.

Writhing in leopardskin-clad ecstasy to tracks such as Of Walking Abortion and If White America Told The Truth... - the Richey fanatics were in heaven. As for the Manics themselves, you got the impression that it was all too close to the bone.

Wire kept his midnight-blue eyelids shut throughout the majority of the album's numbers, while Bradfield branded those baying for more 'sick puppies.'

I admit I had been aching to hear 4st 7lb live, but in truth, I felt like I'd rifled through Richey's diary. The song's barbed-wire landscape proved too much in the flesh.

That said, it wasn't all doom and gloom.

More lasting memories are of the uplifting numbers - Motorcycle Emptiness, Motown Junk (with a Guns n' Roses Paradise City intro) and You Love Us, which was punctuated by a revived Wire thrusting his mike stand towards the crowd.

Bradfield was awe-inspiring on lead guitar but even his flashy solos couldn't surpass an achingly beautiful acoustic version of The Everlasting.