A NUMBER one album and a sell-out UK tour – it’s clearly a good time to be in the Manic Street Preachers.

The band are one of rock’s great survivors and on Saturday night gave a glimpse of the power and infectious anthems which have seen them at the forefront of live performers for so long.

Unfortunately, a glimpse was all we got because for once this was a concert which wasn’t nearly loud enough.

The drums didn’t explode but thudded dully in the background, the bass didn’t hit you in the chest and the overall sound was pretty muddy.

That was a shame because the Manics themselves were on fine form.

In a set of around 100 minutes they ran through much from their impressive back catalogue – an early appearance in the set of Motorcycle Emptiness went down particularly well.

Plus, they threw in several songs from their current album Postcards From A Young Man, including the title track with its incredibly catchy hook.

James Dean Bradfield took time to engage with the audience between songs and bassist Nicky Wire – his microphone stand draped with feather boas – teased the packed crowd about Blackburn Rovers.

“Do you miss Sparky?” he quipped. “Remember when Rovers used to pass the ball around?”

You can tell the band have been together for ages, there is an effortless ease about the whole set-up.

It’s just a pity we didn’t get blown away by the sound as well as the performance.