Saturday 6 June 2020

Fantasy Setlist 2020 - Final!

The setlist below was compiled from 43 different setlists submitted by Manic Street Preachers fans between March and May 2020.  One point was awarded for each vote and the final tally for each song is shown after the name of each one.  Thank you to all people who took part in, followed or promoted these setlists, it has been great fun!!!

Points to note were as follows:
  • Position was decided on average placing across the 43 setlists.
  • While 'This Is Yesterday' received votes as part of an acoustic set, there were more votes that didn't specify it as being acoustic therefore it appears as the full band version, no acoustic set at all!
  • There were more votes for 'Little Baby Nothing' and 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough' without a guest singer than with one, therefore both are here as Manics-only.

Final Manics Fantasy Setlist

Found that Soul 21
International Blue 18
From Despair to Where 16
Sleepflower 25
Yes 18
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 15
Motorcycle Emptiness 37
1985 13
Ready For Drowning 13
Roses in the Hospital 13
The Masses Against the Classes 22
Faster 34
Little Baby Nothing 15
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 16
Archives of Pain 11
This Is Yesterday 13
Tsunami 13
P.C.P. 15
Prologue To History 12
Stay Beautiful 20
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 17
No Surface All Feeling 18
You Love Us 31
Motown Junk 18
A Design for Life 39

Comparing with last time there were new entries for International Blue, Ready For Drowning, Roses in the Hospital, Archives of Pain, Tsunami and Prologue to History.

Dropping out from last time were Peeled Apples, You Stole The Sun From My Heart, This Sullen Welsh Heart, Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky, Revol and Show Me The Wonder.

Interestingly, this time and last time both featured the same opening and closing song!

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Now we know what the final setlist was, how did the songs do if you actually order them by number of votes?  This time we had a different winner to the two Manics Top 50s we've done previously, showing how beloved a song it is in the live set, but it fell just short of appearing in every person's setlist (maximum votes 43).

Fans' Favourite Setlist Selections

A Design for Life 39
Motorcycle Emptiness 37
Faster 34
You Love Us 31
Sleepflower 25
The Masses Against the Classes 22
Found that Soul 21
Stay Beautiful 20
International Blue, Motown Junk, No Surface All Feeling, Yes 18
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 17
From Despair to Where, Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 16
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh), Little Baby Nothing, P.C.P. 15
1985, Ready For Drowning, Roses in the Hospital, This is Yesterday, Tsunami 13
Prologue to History 12
Archives of Pain 11

Australia, Autumnsong, Slash 'N' Burn, Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky, This Sullen Welsh Heart 10

All Is Vanity, Everything Must Go, Imperial Bodybags, Intravenous Agnostic, Kevin Carter, Peeled Apples, The Everlasting, 30-Year War, This Joke Sport Severed, You Stole The Sun From My Heart 9

Door To The River, 4 Ever Delayed, Hold Me Like A Heaven, Jackie Collins Existential Question Time, Nobody Loved You, Revol, Rewind the Film, Show Me the Wonder 8

Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll, Donkeys, Enola/Alone, Miss Europa Disco Dancer, Suicide is Painless (Theme from MASH), Walk Me to the Bridge 7

Die In The Summerime, Europa Geht Durch Mich, Further Away, Golden Platitudes, (It's Not War) Just the End of Love, Judge Yr'self, Marlon JD, Me And Stephen Hawking, Of Walking Abortion, Some Kind of Nothingness 6

Yourself, Ocean Spray, Postcards From A Young Man, A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun, Futurology, People Give In 5

4st 7lb, The Girl Who Wanted To Be God, Mr Carbohydrate, Let Robeson Sing, Baby Elian, Ballad of the Bangkok Novotel, Empty Souls, A Song for Departure, I Live To Fall Asleep, Send Away The Tigers, The Second Great Depression, William's Last Words, Liverpool Revisited, A Song For the Sadness 4

Life Becoming A Landslide, Drug Drug Druggy, Nostalgic Pushead, She is Suffering, Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier, Sepia, You're Tender and You're Tired, Be Natural, Black Dog On My Shoulder, The Love of Richard Nixon, To Repel Ghosts, Solitude Sometimes Is, Cardiff Afterlife, Facing Page: Top Left, Bag Lady, Anthem For a Lost Cause, Let's Go To War, Between the Clock and the Bed, Misguided Missile, Distant Colours, Sequels of Forgotten Wars, In Eternity, The Left Behind 3

Suicide Alley, Love's Sweet Exile, Tennessee, Ain't Going Down, Bored Out Of My Mind, Symphony of Tourette, Gold Against the Soul, Comfort Comes, Mausoleum, Removables, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, First Republic, My Little Empire, His Last Painting, Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children, There By The Grace Of God, Glasnost, Picturesque, Underdogs, Rendition, Winterlovers, Doors Closing Slowly, All We Make Is Entertainment, The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever, This Is The Day, Builder of Routines, The Next Jet to Leave Moscow, Sex, Power, Love and Money, The View From Stow Hill, (Feels Like) Heaven, Vivian, Dylan & Caitlin, Still A Long Way To Go 2

New Art Riot, Strip It Down, Sorrow 16, We Her Majesty's Prisoners, Starlover, Another Invented Disease, So Dead, Repeat, Damn Dog, Methadone Pretty, Democracy Coma, Hibernation, Patrick Bateman, Us Against You, Wrote For Luck, Are Mothers Saints, Charles Windsor, ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart, Too Cold Here, Interiors (Song For Willem de Kooning), No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me, Take The Skinheads Bowling, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Born A Girl, Montana/Autumn/78, So Why So Sad, The Year of Purification, Wattsville Blues, Dead Martyrs, The Convalescent, Automatik Teknicolour, We Are All Bourgeois Now, Out Of Time, Always/Never, Firefight, Indian Summer, Fearless Punk Ballad, Boxes & Lists, 1404, Journal For Plague Lovers, Virginia State Epileptic Colony, I Think I Found It, Don't Be Evil, Distractions, Rock 'N' Roll Genius, Leviathan, Umbrella, (I Miss The) Tokyo Skyline, As Holy As The Soil, Running Out Of Fantasy, Manorbier, Divine Youth, Black Square, Broken Algorithms, Concrete Fields, To See A Friend In Tears, Sunshine On Leith, Chandelier, No Feelings, Sweet Child O' Mine, Days Slip Away, I Killed The Zeitgeist, I Don't Need Anyone, Come Together, Which Way To Kyffin 1

UK Channel Boredom, Last Exit On Yesterday, Teenage 20/20, Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds, Born To End, Spectators Of Suicide, Crucifix Kiss, RP McMurphy, Soul Contamination, A Vision of Dead Desire, It's So Easy, Under My Wheels, Never Want Again, Dead Yankee Drawl, What's My Name, The Intense Humming Of Evil, Sculpture Of Man, Love Torn Us Under, Stay With Me, The Drowners, Dead Passive, Dead Trees and Traffic Islands, Bright Eyes, Black Garden, Hanging On, Horses Under Starlight, Velocity Girl, Dixie, Glory Glory, I'm Not Working, SYMM, Black Holes For The Young, Valley Boy, Socialist Serenade, Train In Vain, Buildings For Dead People, Close My Eyes, Rock And Roll Music, My Guernica, Royal Correspondent, Epicentre, Locust Valley, Pedestal, Groundhog Days, Just A Kid, Little Trolls, Masking Tape, Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, Fear Of Motion, It's All Gone, Unstoppable Salvation, Happy Ending, Been A Son, Last Christmas, Emily, Fragments, Quarantine, Voodoo Polaroids, Everyone Knows-Nobody Cares, Everything Will Be, Askew Road, All Alone Here, No Jubilees, Litany, Dying Breeds, Failure Bound, A Secret Society, I'm Just a Patsy, Working Class Hero, Love Letter to the Future, Welcome To The Dead Zone, Little Girl Lost, The Vorticists, The Long Goodbye, Morning Comrades, Red Sleeping Beauty, You Know It's Going To Hurt, Heyday of the Blood, Foggy Eyes, Lady Lazarus, Anorexic Rodin, She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach, Pretension/Repulsion, The Descent, Hazelton Avenue, Auto-Intoxication, I Know The Numbers, I'm Leaving You For Solitude, Ostpolitik, Lost Voices, Time Ain't Nothing, Broken Up Again, Red Rubber, Evidence Against Myself, Slow Reflections - Strange Delays, The Passing Show, Inky Fingers, Engage With Your Shadow, Kiss My Eyes For Eternity, Midnight Sun, The Endless Plain of Fortune, We Were Never Told, Penny Royal Tea, The Instrumental, Wake Up Alone, Vision Blurred, The Ghosts of Christmas, Antarctic, The Soulmates, Alien Orders - Invisible Armies, Primitive Painters, 4 Lonely Roads, 3 Ways To See Despair, TE Lawrence On a Bike, What Happened to the Blue Generation, Melancholyme, Death of a Digital Ghost, See It Like Sutherland, Dreaming A City (Hughesovka), Mayakovsky, Blistered Mirrors, Empty Motorcade, The Last Time I Saw Paris, The Sound of Detachment, Caldey, Antisocialmanifesto, Kodawari, Start Me Up, Together Stronger, A Soundtrack to Complete Withdrawal, Holding Patterns 0


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So for album tracks, if you break down the votes by album you get the first list, 'Generation Terrorists' perhaps being a surprise winner and 'Know Your Enemy' doing surprisingly well.  However both of those albums have more songs, which is where the second list comes in.

The second list is average votes per song, so strips out any advantages some albums might get for having more songs.  This time 'Everything Must Go' comes out on top, ensuring that 'The Holy Bible' takes second place both times.

Album Chart by Votes

Generation Terrorists 129
The Holy Bible 121
Everything Must Go 118
Gold Against The Soul 87
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 81
Know Your Enemy 59
Journal for Plague Lovers 58
Resistance Is Futile 56
Send Away The Tigers 50
Rewind The Film 44
Lifeblood 40
Futurology 35
Postcards From a Young Man 34


Album Chart by Average Votes per Song

Everything Must Go 9.8
The Holy Bible 9.3
Gold Against The Soul 8.7
Generation Terrorists 7.6
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 6.2
Send Away The Tigers 5.0
Resistance Is Futile 4.7
Journal For Plague Lovers 4.5
Know Your Enemy 3.7
Rewind The Film 3.7
Lifeblood 3.3
Postcards From A Young Man 2.8
Futurology 2.7


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For the final setlist the album eras with the most songs were 'Generation Terrorists' and 'The Holy Bible' (counting 'Motown Junk' as being from the GT era).  Given how well 'Everything Must Go' did in terms of overall votes it's maybe surprising that there were only two songs in the final set, but 'A Design For Life' was the highest scorer.

Four of the album eras missed out on the final set, perhaps suffering from not having any particular overwhelming fan favourites amongst their tracks, so they ultimately ended up taking votes from each other.  'Rewind The Film' and 'Journal For Plague Lovers' both had songs that were 1 and 2 votes away respectively from reaching the 11 votes required to make the final set.

Setlist By Era

Generation Terrorists 5
Gold Against The Soul 4
The Holy Bible 5
Everything Must Go 2
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 4
Know Your Enemy 1
Lifeblood 1
Send Away The Tigers 1
Journal For Plague Lovers 0
Postcards From A Young Man 0
Rewind The Film 0
Futurology 0
Resistance Is Futile 1 
Others 1

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Going by overall score the 'Generation Terrorists' era got the highest total, the reliable old classics gaining a lot of votes.  It was a good show all round from the first five albums, gaining the lion's share of the votes from those that made it into the final setlist.

Setlist By Era By Score

Generation Terrorists 121
Gold Against The Soul 69
The Holy Bible 91
Everything Must Go 57
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours 55
Know Your Enemy 21
Lifeblood 13
Send Away the Tigers 16
Journal for Plague Lovers 0
Postcards From a Young Man 0
Rewind the Film 0
Futurology 0
Resistance Is Futile 18
Others 22

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And so to the albums themselves, ranked by number of votes for each of their tracks.  As the votes are all about live tracks then this isn't necessarily a comment on which is the best song, as you can see by the setlist there was no acoustic section so the louder crowd-pleasers tended to get the most votes overall.

GATS, EMG and RIF were the only albums to get at least one vote for every song, while GT had the highest number of no-vote songs with four.

Generation Terrorists

Motorcycle Emptiness 37
You Love Us 31
Stay Beautiful 20
Little Baby Nothing 15
Slash N' Burn 10
Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll 7
Love's Sweet Exile 2
Tennessee 2
Another Invented Disease 1
Damn Dog 1
Methadone Pretty 1
Repeat 1
So Dead 1
Born to End 0
Crucifix Kiss 0
Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds 0
Spectators of Suicide 0

Gold Against The Soul

Sleepflower 25
From Despair To Where 16
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 15
Roses in the Hospital 13
Yourself 5
Drug Drug Druggy 3
Life Becoming a Landslide 3
Nostalgic Pushead 3
Gold Against The Soul 2
Symphony of Tourette 2

The Holy Bible

Faster 34
Yes 18
P.C.P. 15
This Is Yesterday 13
Archives of Pain 11
Revol 8
Die in the Summertime 6
Of Walking Abortion 6
4st 7lb 4
She Is Suffering 3
Mausoleum 2
ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart 1
The Intense Humming of Evil 0

Everything Must Go

A Design For Life 39
No Surface All Feeling 18
Australia 10
Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky 10
Everything Must Go 9
Kevin Carter 9
Enola/Alone 7
Further Away 6
The Girl Who Wanted To Be God 4
Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier 3
Removables 2
Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning) 1

This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 17
Ready For Drowning 13
Tsunami 13
The Everlasting 9
You Stole The Sun From My Heart 9
Nobody Loved You 8
Black Dog on my Shoulder 3
Be Natural 3
You're Tender and You're Tired 3
My Little Empire 2
Born a Girl 1
I'm Not Working 0
SYMM 0

Know Your Enemy

Found that Soul 21
Intravenous Agnostic 9
Miss Europa Disco Dancer 7
Ocean Spray 5
Baby Elian 4
Let Robeson Sing 4
Freedom Of Speech Won't Feed My Children 2
His Last Painting 2
Dead Martyrs 1
So Why So Sad 1
The Convalescent 1
The Year of Purification 1
Wattsville Blues 1
Epicentre 0
My Guernica 0
Royal Correspondent 0

Lifeblood

1985 13
A Song for Departure 4
Empty Souls 4
I Live to Fall Asleep 4
Cardiff Afterlife 3
Solitude Sometimes Is 3
The Love of Richard Nixon 3
To Repel Ghosts 3
Glasnost 2
Always/Never 1
Emily 0
Fragments 0

Send Away The Tigers

Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 16
Autumnsong 10
Imperial Bodybags 9
Send Away The Tigers 4
The Second Great Depression 4
Rendition 2
Underdogs 2
Winterlovers 2
Indian Summer 1
I'm Just A Patsy 0

Journal For Plague Lovers

All Is Vanity 9
Peeled Apples 9
This Joke Sport Severed 9
Jackie Collins Existential Question Time 8
Marlon JD 6
Me and Stephen Hawking 6
William's Last Words 4
Facing Page: Top Left 3
Doors Closing Slowly 2
Journal For Plague Lovers 1
Virginia State Epileptic Colony 1
Pretension/Repulsion 0
She Bathed Herself in a Bath of Bleach 0

Postcards From A Young Man

Golden Platitudes 6
(It's Not War) Just The End Of Love 6
Some Kind Of Nothingness 6
A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun 5
Postcards From A Young Man 5
All We Make Is Entertainment 2
The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever 2
Don't Be Evil 1
I Think I Found It 1
Auto-Intoxication 0
Hazelton Avenue 0
The Descent (Pages 1 & 2) 0

Rewind The Film

This Sullen Welsh Heart 10
30-Year War 9
Rewind The Film 8
Show Me The Wonder 8
Anthem For A Lost Cause 3
Builder Of Routines 2
As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin) 1
(I Miss the) Tokyo Skyline 1
Manorbier 1
Running Out Of Fantasy 1
3 Ways To See Despair 0
4 Lonely Roads 0

Futurology

Walk Me To The Bridge 7
Europa Geht Durch Mich 6
Futurology 5
Between The Clock And The Bed 3
Let's Go To War 3
Misguided Missile 3
Sex, Power, Love & Money 2
The Next Jet To Leave Moscow 2
The View From Stow Hill 2
Black Square 1
Divine Youth 1
Dreaming A City (Hughesovka) 0
Mayakovsky 0

Resistance Is Futile

International Blue 18
Hold Me Like A Heaven 8
People Give In 5
A Song For The Sadness 4
Liverpool Revisited 4
Distant Colours 3
In Eternity 3
Sequels Of Forgotten Wars 3
The Left Behind 3
Dylan & Caitlin 2
Vivian 2
Broken Algorithms 1

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Looking purely at B-sides, there were a few that managed to get at least two votes, as listed below.  'Prologue to History' was the only one to make it in the final setlist and how 'Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel' managed to rank third I have no idea!  Four of you must have been craving egg and chips.....

B-Sides

Prologue to History 12
Donkeys 7
Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel 4
Sepia 3
Ain't Going Down 2
Bored Out Of My Mind 2
Comfort Comes 2
First Republic 2
Picturesque 2
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head 2


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All of the 'National Treasures' songs managed to pick up votes, although a couple only managed to scrape the one.  The biggest hits and the songs best suited to a rousing reception in the live arena unsurprisingly came out on top.

National Treasures

A Design for Life 39
Motorcycle Emptiness 37
Faster 34
You Love Us 31
The Masses Against The Classes 22
Found That Soul 21
Stay Beautiful 20
Motown Junk 18
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 17
From Despair To Where 16
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 16
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) 15
Little Baby Nothing 15
Roses In The Hospital 13
Tsunami 13
Australia 10
Autumnsong 10
Slash 'N' Burn 10
Everything Must Go 9
Kevin Carter 9
The Everlasting 9
You Stole The Sun From My Heart 9
Revol 8
Suicide Is Painless (Theme From MASH) 7
(It's Not War) Just the End of Love 6
Some Kind Of Nothingness 6
Ocean Spray 5
Postcards From A Young Man 5
Empty Souls 4
Let Robeson Sing 4
Life Becoming A Landslide 3
She Is Suffering 3
The Love of Richard Nixon 3
Love's Sweet Exile 2
There By The Grace of God 2
This Is The Day 2
Indian Summer 1
So Why So Sad 1

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Like B-sides there weren't a lot of covers that managed to get more than one vote, with 'Theme From MASH' being the only cover to get more than two votes.

Covers (not including fantasy covers)

Suicide Is Painless (Theme from MASH) 7
(Feels Like) Heaven 2
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head 2
This Is The Day 2

Monday 1 June 2020

Fantasy Setlists 31st May

So here are the final batch for the 2020 Manics Fantasy Setlists and I have to admit I've broken with Protocol on this one.  Usually I put them up on the blog in the order that I receive them but I had to change that just this once to reward artistic effort in what is undoubtedly the most artistic and colourful submission!

There was still time for some songs to register their first vote too, so not anywhere near the final setlist but someone loves them.

So the final day brought us up to a grand total of 43 setlists and I can tell you that I now know which songs make up the final 25!  But I won't tell you just yet, how about you join me on Twitter on the evening of Saturday 6th June for a listening party?

Bea @ManicBeata



Aileen @NotOnTwitterButFriendOfPyfbrown

1. International Blue
2. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
3. Australia
4. Tsunami
5. You Love Us
6. Motorcycle Emptiness
7. Sleepflower
8. From Despair To Where
9. You Stole The Sun From My Heart
10. Faster
11. Indian Summer
12. Hold Me Like A Heaven
13. She Is Suffering
14. Liverpool Revisited
15. Yes
16. Stay Beautiful
17. Motown Junk
18. Come Together (Beatles Cover)
19. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
20. Walk Me To The Bridge
21. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (with dedication to Aileen)
22. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
23. People Give In
24. A Design For Life
25. Everything Must Go

Tombigbee @springvoodoo


James @archivesofjames


Denman @densk14

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. Little Baby Nothing
3. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH)
4. From Despair To Where
5. Drug Drug Druggy
6. She Is Suffering
7. Faster
8. P.C.P.
9. Revol
10. A Design For Life
11. The Girl Who Wanted To Be God
12. Further Away
13. The Everlasting
14. Ready For Drowning
15. You're Tender And You're Tired
16. Let Robeson Sing
17. Send Away The Tigers
18. This Joke Sport Severed
19. Between The Clock And The Bed
20. Dylan & Caitlin
21. Sequels Of Forgotten Wars
22. Prologue To History
23. Mr Carbohydrate
24. Bored Out Of My Mind
25. First Republic

Wednesday 27 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 25th - 26th May

Two further setlists from the last couple of days, both covering the whole of the Manics' career to date but heavily weighted towards the older days.  Another guest appearance from Kylie too, not to mention a cover of one of her songs!  Well I say "her song"......

Bleistift @EinBleistift


Europ-Ian @kevincartermsp

1. Motown Junk
2. Show Me The Wonder
3. From Despair To Where
4. You Love Us
5. International Blue
6. (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love
7. La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
8. Marlon J.D.
9. Intravenous Agnostic
10. Sleepflower
11. Everything Must Go
12. Motorcycle Emptiness
13. Baby Elian (Acoustic)
14. Ready For Drowning (Acoustic)
15. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
16. You Stole The Sun From My Heart
17. No Surface All Feeling
18. The Masses Against The Classes
19. Of Walking Abortion
20. 1985
21. Australia
22. Faster
23. Stay Beautiful
24. P.C.P.
25. A Design For Life

Monday 25 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 24th May

The setlists just keep on coming, with another bumper crop of four!  This time Wire gets himself another stint in the spotlight, Bag Lady gains its first vote and then its second immediately after that and Starlover also finds its way into its first setlist, buried amongst the fan favourites.

There are already more on the way for the next blog so no sense of the last minute rush stopping just yet!

Liz @LondonLady70

1. Archives of Pain
2. Sex, Power, Love & Money
3. Found That Soul
4. Sleepflower
5. Everything Must Go
6. Futurology
7. International Blue
8. 1985
9. A Song For Departure
10. Some Kind of Nothingness
11. Wattsville Blues
12. Rewind The Film (Wire on main vocals)
13. Door To The River
14. Anthem For A Lost Cause
15. Glasnost
16. Let Robeson Sing
17. The Second Great Depression
18. Out Of Time
19. No Surface All Feeling
20. Faster
21. Stay Beautiful
22. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll
23. Prologue To History
24. Motorcycle Emptiness
25. A Design For Life

Manic Dave @scully161280


Rich @richierabs

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. Yourself
3. The Masses Against The Classes
4. Vivian
5. Winterlovers
6. The Everlasting
7. Of Walking Abortion
8. Picturesque
9. Sleepflower
10. Door to the River 
11. Imperial Bodybags
12. Cardiff Afterlife
13. Repeat (UK)
14. Bag Lady
15. Running Out Of Fantasy (JDB Acoustic Solo)
16. Too Cold Here (JDB Acoustic Solo)
17. Peeled Apples
18. Let’s Go To War
19. Miss Europa Disco Dancer
20. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll
21. 30-Year War
22. Yes
23. This Joke Sport Severed
24. A Design For Life
25. You Love Us (Full Instrumental Outro)

a lot of miles from home @ofmilesfromhome

1. Found That Soul
2. Sleepflower
3. Faster
4. Australia
5. Suicide Is Painless (Theme From MASH)
6. Tsunami
7. No Surface All Feeling
8. The Masses Against the Classes
9. In Eternity
10. Roses in the Hospital
11. Prologue to History
12. 4 Ever Delayed
13. This Is Yesterday (Acoustic)
14. All Is Vanity
15. 1985
16. Door To The River
17. Futurology
18. 30-Year War
19. Send Away The Tigers
20. Some Kind Of Nothingness
21. Starlover
22. A Song For The Sadness
23. Motown Junk
24. A Design For Life
25. You Love Us

Sunday 24 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 23rd May

Another flurry of setlists in one day as we rush headlong towards the deadline a week today.  This time we have a run through the albums before turning around and going straight back again, as well as setlists with stage directions, various guest appearances, solo spots for both James AND Nicky and the always welcome setlist quotes.  And of course a Manics author, no less!

I know some of you are still working through your own entries so let's get as many as we can and make the final fans' setlist a true representation of what the fans want!

Me Judith Manics @judith_rafferty


Steven @Manics101


Stephen LN @RiffsandMeaning

Friday 22 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 20th -21st May

You wait a few weeks for some more fantasy setlists to come along and then they start coming along in threes.......

So here are three more for you to marvel at and critique, the return of Sweet Child O' Mine, a concerted effort to buck the trend of ADFL closers and a few more of those underdog songs (excuse the pun) getting their day in the sun.

wirette @crazycatwoman70

1. Sleepflower
2. Faster
3. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
4. Yes
5. P.C.P.
6. Peeled Apples
7. Autumnsong
8. A Design For Life
9. Marlon J.D.
10. Rewind The Film
11. Nobody Loved You
12. The Left Behind
13. Everything Must Go
14. (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love
15. Let Robeson Sing
16. From Despair To Where
17. Sweet Child O' Mine
18. The Masses Against The Classes
19. New Art Riot
20. You Love Us
21. Stay Beautiful
22. Motorcycle Emptiness
23. Prologue To History
24. Underdogs
25. William's Last Words

wade fletcher @wade_fletch

1. Stay Beautiful
2. A Design For Life
3. Walk Me To The Bridge
4. 1985
5. Found That Soul
6. Liverpool Revisited
7. Broken Algorithms
8. Motorcycle Emptiness
9. Roses in the Hospital
10. Ready for Drowning
11. Baby Elian
12. Freedom of Speech Won't Feed My Children
13. All Is Vanity
14. 30-Year War (Acoustic)
15. Postcards From a Young Man (Acoustic)
16. Show Me The Wonder
17. Leviathan
18. Black Square
19. Methadone Pretty
20. Faster
21. 4 Ever Delayed
22. In Eternity
23. Sleepflower
24. Everything Must Go
25. You Love Us

"A grain of poetry suffices to season a century." -- Jose Marti

BOB CARIDAD @deporbags



Wednesday 20 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 18th - 19th May

And it looks like we're into the home stretch now with another multi-setlist post, including extended acoustic slots, multiple Wire costume changes and songs getting their first vote even at this late stage.

The deadline is looming at 31st May so make sure yours is ready on time if you haven't submitted yet!

Sleepflowerrr @_sleepflowerrr_

1. Slash 'N' Burn
2. Judge Yr'self
3. I Live To Fall Asleep
4. 30-Year War
5. Sleepflower
6. Ready For Drowning
7. Archives Of Pain
8. Anthem For A Lost Cause
9. Hold Me Like A Heaven
10. The Next Jet To Leave Moscow
11. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (Acoustic)
12. Door To The River (Acoustic)
13. Be Natural (Acoustic)
14. Golden Platitudes (Acoustic)
15. Motorcycle Emptiness
16. International Blue
17. Prologue to History
18. Faster
19. You Stole The Sun From My Heart
20. Some Kind of Nothingness
21. Autumnsong
22. Rewind The Film
23. No Surface All Feeling
24. You Love Us
25. A Design For Life

JENNI VIDGREN @jenvidg


Monkey Marl @MonkeyMarl

1. Found That Soul
2. 1985
3. Sleepflower
4. Mr Carbohydrate
5. Peeled Apples
6. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
7. Ready For Drowning
8. Enola/Alone
9. Tennessee
10. A Design For Life
11. Take the Skinheads Bowling
12. Intravenous Agnostic
13. Marlon J.D.
14. From Despair to Where
15. Roses in the Hospital
16. Nostalgic Pushead
17. Faster
18. Motorcycle Emptiness
19. Yes
20. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
21. The Masses Against the Classes
22. P.C.P.
23. No Surface All Feeling
24. Virginia State Epileptic Colony
25. You Love Us

Friday 8 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 7th May

Two more setlists to study and a few more songs picking up their first votes alongside some of the more popular choices.  Note the triple duet ending of the first offering.

This could be the start of the final stretch as everyone who was meaning to do a setlist finally starts to feel the deadline looming.  Keep them coming, we're almost past the number of participants we had last time!

Chorizo Garbanzo @ChorizoGarbanzo

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. Faster
3. The Masses Against the Classes
4. From Despair to Where
5. All Is Vanity
6. Of Walking Abortion
7. Donkeys
8. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever
9. Removables
10. 4st 7lb
11. Liverpool Revisited
12. This Is Yesterday
13. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky
14. My Little Empire
15. Mr Carbohydrate
16. No Surface All Feeling
17. Mausoleum
18. Me And Stephen Hawking
19. Found That Soul
20. Rendition
21. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
22. Yes
23. Little Baby Nothing
24. Dylan & Caitlin
25. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough


AC Obliterate/Ugly OUT NOW @StiltOwl



Thursday 7 May 2020

Fantasy Setlists 5th May

Another single setlist for your perusal today and another one to feature a total fantasy cover.  Always nice to see a setlist quote too.

Only around 3 weeks to get yours in now if you haven't submitted yet, we had a flurry at the start so will we see a flurry at the end too?

Jan R. V. @SirManic


Wednesday 29 April 2020

Fantasy Setlists 23rd April

Another of our regular contributors here, getting a blog all to herself and dragging in Kylie for not one but TWO numbers.  I did hang on a few days to see if there was a blog buddy incoming, but the fantasy setlists seem to have dried up a little bit after a lightning fast start.  Any more to come?

Mild Manics @MildManics

1. Slash 'N' Burn
2. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
3. Empty Souls
4. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH)
5. Motorcycle Emptiness
6. Roses in the Hospital
7. Little Baby Nothing (with Kylie)
8. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (also with Kylie)
9. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
10. Hold Me Like a Heaven
11. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (Acoustic)
12. This Joke Sport Severed (Acoustic)
13. Bored Out Of My Mind (Acoustic)
14. Miss Europa Disco Dancer
15. Judge Yr'self
16. Sleepflower
17. Found That Soul
18. Stay Beautiful
19. Tsunami
20. You Stole The Sun From My Heart
21. Yes
22. From Despair to Where
23. Motown Junk
24. You Love Us
25. A Design For Life

Tuesday 14 April 2020

Fantasy Setlists 10th - 13th April

Two more fantasy setlists from two blog regulars today, once again proving that the old faithful is going to prove hard to shift from that final spot in the set.

And a JDB solo cover included too, don't forget you can pick any song you want, it won't make it anywhere near the final fans' set but if you want to hear it in yours then put it in!

Andy @citymanblue

1. Found That Soul
2. Motorcycle Emptiness
3. Faster
4. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love
5. International Blue
6. This Is Yesterday
7. Ocean Spray
8. Firefight
9. Little Baby Nothing
10. Slash 'N' Burn
11. No Surface All Feeling
12. Black Dog on my Shoulder
13. Enola/Alone
14. You Stole the Sun from my Heart
15. Stay Beautiful
16. Revol
17. 1404 (Acoustic)
18. This Sullen Welsh Heart (Acoustic)
19. Motown Junk
20. You Love Us (with Welsh National Anthem intro)
21. 1985
22. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
23. The Masses Against the Classes
24. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
25. A Design For Life

Heather @heather1917
http://wattsville.blogspot.com/2020/04/fantasy-lockdown-setlist-april-2020.html

1. Peeled Apples
2. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
3. Yes
4. There By The Grace Of God
5. 1985
6. Intravenous Agnostic
7. The Girl Who Wanted to be God
8. Ready For Drowning
9. Prologue to History
10. Me And Stephen Hawking
11. Stay Beautiful
12. This Joke Sport Severed (Acoustic)
13. Still A Long Way To Go (Acoustic)
14. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head (Acoustic)
15. Mr Carbohydrate
16. Motorcycle Emptiness
17. Futurology
18. No Surface All Feeling
19. People Give In
20. Faster
21. Found That Soul
22. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
23. You Love Us
24. PCP
25. A Design For Life

Tuesday 7 April 2020

Fantasy Setlists 5th - 6th April

The fantasy selections roll on with two more regular contributors to both the setlists and the top 50s (if twice in a lifetime counts as regular), one of which just happens to be my mother.

Around 7 weeks to go, so still loads of time if you're planning on taking part, but best get some extra "research" in by listening to the back catalogue or these setlists!

Claire @clarahopscotch

1. Me And Stephen Hawking
2. From Despair to Where
3. Futurology
4. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
5. (It's Not War) Just the End of Love
6. Solitude Sometimes Is
7. This Joke Sport Severed
8. Revol
9. Imperial Bodybags
10. Suicide Alley
11. Dead Martyrs
12. You Love Us
13. This Sullen Welsh Heart (Acoustic)
14. Distant Colours (Acoustic)
15. Some Kind of Nothingness (Acoustic)
16. Little Baby Nothing
17. Archives of Pain
18. Judge Yr'self
19. 30 Year War
20. 4 Ever Delayed
21. Donkeys
22. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
23. Faster
24. Further Away
25. A Design For Life


Jennifer - Mother of @Pyfbrown

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
3. From Despair to Where
4. Enola/Alone
5. Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky
6. Gold Against the Soul
7. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
8. Little Baby Nothing
9. The Girl Who Wanted to be God
10. A Design For Life
11. Be Natural
12. Everything Must Go
13. I Live To Fall Asleep
14. Faster
15. You Stole the Sun From My Heart
16. Send Away the Tigers
17. Kevin Carter
18. The Love of Richard Nixon
19. Further Away
20. Tsunami
21. Donkeys
22. The Second Great Depression
23. The Everlasting
24. Australia
25. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH)

Sunday 5 April 2020

Fantasy Setlists 2nd - 3rd April

A couple more fantasy setlists from the last few days to brighten up your Sunday, one of which is clearly going to be the best one *cough* although I may be biased (sorry Nick).

Already we're seeing a few strong, and probably unsurprising, candidates cropping up in a lot of the picks, but still plenty of places up for grabs in the final fan setlist which will be compiled from all the votes cast.

Ian @Pyfbrown

Intro: A Design For Life (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Instrumental Version)

1. People Give In
2. Walk Me to the Bridge
3. Show Me the Wonder
4. Postcards From a Young Man
5. This Joke Sport Severed
6. Imperial Bodybags
7. Empty Souls
8. Found That Soul
9. Tsunami
10. Enola/Alone
11. Archives of Pain
12. Sleepflower
13. Motorcycle Emptiness
14. Suicide Alley
15. This Sullen Welsh Heart (Acoustic)
16. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (Acoustic)
17. The Masses Against the Classes
18. Stay Beautiful
19. From Despair to Where
20. Baby Elian
21. Faster
22. This Is Yesterday
23. Motown Junk
24. You Love Us
25. A Design For Life

Outro: Askew Road


Nick Tait @ApolloScream

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. So Dead
3. Imperial Bodybags
4. First Republic
5. Found That Soul
6. Judge Yr'self
7. Life Becoming a Landslide
8. Intravenous Agnostic
9. The Masses Against the Classes
10. 30 Year War
11. I Live To Fall Asleep
12. William's Last Words
13. As Holy As The Soil (That Buries Your Skin)
14. Nobody Loved You
15. Ain't Going Down (JDB Solo)
16. I Think I Found It
17. All We Make Is Entertainment
18. Don't Be Evil
19. Stay Beautiful
20. Autumnsong
21. Slash 'N' Burn
22. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
23. Roses in the Hospital
24. You Love Us
25. A Design For Life

Wednesday 1 April 2020

Fantasy Setlists 29th March

It has been a little quiet in terms of setlists since an initial flurry of 12 in three days, so here's the next instalment from a few days ago and another set with a good spread across the various eras.

You're also all cordially invited to the unveiling of my own personal fantasy setlist tomorrow (Thursday) at 8pm on Twitter, where you're welcome to play along with me.  Think of it as a dress rehearsal for when voting has closed, as that will be how the final fan setlist will be announced too, see you there!

Rich Wilkinson @worksop69

1. Sleepflower
2. Revol
3. Prologue to History
4. From Despair to Where
5. Another Invented Disease
6. Found That Soul
7. Of Walking Abortion
8. Symphony of Tourette
9. The Masses Against the Classes
10. Faster
11. Postcards From a Young Man
12. Autumnsong
13. All We Make Is Entertainment
14. Montana/Autumn 78
15. Solitude Sometimes Is
16. In Eternity
17. This is the Day
18. (Feels Like) Heaven
19. Umbrella
20. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH)
21. Roses in the Hospital
22. Walk Me To The Bridge
23. PCP
24. No Surface All Feeling
25. A Design For Life

Tuesday 24 March 2020

Fantasy Setlists 23rd March

Two more entries takes our total up to 12 now and still loads of people to come currently pondering over their setlists.  Clearly this is important business and can't be rushed.  Top marks for presentation to our first entry this time though, throwing down the gauntlet to anyone else with extra time on their hands at the moment, and with an intro and an outro too!

Feel free to add your own intro and/or outro, they can't be counted towards the final setlist votes but it helps to make your setlist come alive!

Our second participant also had an honourable mentions list for those that got away, I'm sure anyone who has already started knows the feeling!

Mental Jargon @MentalJargon


John Keith @JKgiro85

Monday 23 March 2020

Fantasy Setlists 22nd March

Another nice round number of 5 fantasy setlists on Sunday took us into double figures already!  So I expect we'll be well on course to blow the total from last time completely out of the water and make us more, er, statistically significant.

A Design For Life is still clearly popular with many people as the immovable set closer, even with the choice of a full back catalogue that particular tradition clearly runs deep.  Although Die in the Summertime also got its turn at the end in one setlist to send everyone out into the streets on a.....high?

And yes, if you send me your setlist in a presentable format I will be lazy and copy and paste it for the blog....weeelllll, saves typing it out.  I am still doing the scoring though, so don't think I'm being THAT lazy.....

Craig Fairlie @CraigFairlie


Ritzy O'Toole @roisinmckeon


Kurt Curtis @KurtMarcECurtis

1. Us Against You
2. Archives of Pain
3. PCP
4. All is Vanity
5. Intravenous Agnostic
6. Sleepflower
7. Judge Yr'self
8. Solitude Sometimes Is
9. The Second Great Depression
10. Journal for Plague Lovers
11. Are Mothers Saints
12. Black Dog on my Shoulder
13. Peeled Apples
14. Imperial Bodybags
15. A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun
16. This Is Yesterday
17. Charles Windsor
18. Motown Junk
19. This Sullen Welsh Heart
20. Donkeys
21. A Song For Departure
22. Let's Go To War
23. Between the Clock and the Bed
24. Rewind the Film
25. Die in the Summertime

Jem @GoonerMetalhead


Mark Cleary @mousecore1976

1. Miss Europa Disco Dancer
2. Ocean Spray
3. 4st 7lb
4. Faster
5. This Is Yesterday
6. Enola/Alone
7. Be Natural
8. Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky
9. Life Becoming a Landslide
10. Found That Soul
11. The Everlasting
12. Tsunami
13. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
14. Roses in the Hospital
15. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier
16. My Little Empire
17. Marlon JD
18. Little Baby Nothing
19. Slash 'N' Burn
20. Australia
21. Motown Junk
22. You Love Us
23. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
24. Motorcycle Emptiness
25. A Design For Life

Sunday 22 March 2020

Fantasy Setlists 21st March

So here they are, the first batch in the second run of Manics Fantasy setlists, the early birds getting their votes in before everyone else.  And already a pretty wide set of selections, making sure to cover most of the eras in their setlists.  And the first complete fantasy selection so far, with Richard going for an acoustic Proclaimers cover!  I wonder if JDB will have his glasses on for that one......

Kyle @KB2X

Intro - Dreaming a City (in its entirety)

1. Found That Soul
2. Peeled Apples
3. A Design For Life
4. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart
5. Further Away
6. Drug Drug Druggy
7. Distant Colours
8. Faster
9. Europa Geht Durch Mich
10. Show Me the Wonder
11. Send Away the Tigers
12. If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
13. Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Acoustic)
14. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (Acoustic)
15. Stay Beautiful (Acoustic)
16. This Joke Sport Severed (Acoustic)
17. Yes
18. Liverpool Revisited
19. Comfort Comes
20. Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll
21. Your Love Is Not Enough
22. People Give In
23. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH)
24. 1985
25. Motorcycle Emptiness

Marc Edison @marcsedison

1. Slash 'N' Burn
2. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
3. International Blue
4. 4 Ever Delayed
5. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
6. Motorcycle Emptiness
7. Faster
8. PCP
9. Strip It Down
10. La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)
11. The Girl Who Wanted to be God
12. Donkeys
13. Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky
14. Autumnsong
15. All Is Vanity
16. 1985
17. Baby Elian
18. (Feels Like) Heaven
19. Walk Me to the Bridge
20. Sequels of Forgotten Wars
21. We Her Majesty's Prisoners
22. Motown Junk
23. A Design For Life
24. You Love Us
25. Condemned to Rock 'N' Roll

Karen Davies @karenedavies68
Dom @DManto6

1. Motorcycle Emptiness
2. Yes
3. From Despair to Where
4. Faster
5. Kevin Carter
6. Yourself
7. 4 Ever Delayed
8. The Masses Against the Classes
9. The Second Great Depression
10. Suicide is Painless (Theme From MASH) (Acoustic)
11. Stay Beautiful (Acoustic)
12. Builder of Routines (Acoustic)
13. Empty Souls
14. 1985
15. Let's Go To War
16. You Love Us
17. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
18. Revol
19. Drug Drug Druggy
20. Life Becoming a Landslide
21. The Everlasting
22. International Blue
23. His Last Painting
24. Sleepflower
25. A Design For Life

Richard @RichardE1875

1. The Masses Against the Classes
2. A Song For the Sadness
3. Show Me the Wonder
4. PCP
5. Golden Platitudes
6. A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun
7. Me & Stephen Hawking
8. Autumnsong
9. Imperial Bodybags
10. A Song For Departure
11. To See A Friend In Tears (Acoustic)
12. Sunshine on Leith (Acoustic - Proclaimers cover)
13. The Everlasting
14. You're Tender And You're Tired
15. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier
16. Everything Must Go
17. Further Away
18. Faster
19. This Is Yesterday
20. Hold Me Like a Heaven
21. From Despair to Where
22. Stay Beautiful
23. You Love Us
24. Yourself
25. Motorcycle Emptiness