This December sees the twentieth anniversary tour and re-release of Manic Street Preachers seminal classic ‘The Holy Bible’. To mark the event, fans of the Welsh rock legends are raising money for a short documentary devoted entirely to the album. Largely the work of guitarist, Richey Edwards, who disappeared shortly afterwards, it has not been played live and in full – until now. The perfect time for such a documentary. Manics fans are invited to be part of this via http://kickstarter.com/projects/1056735343/the-holy-bible-my-testament
At time of writing, the Kickstarter for ‘The Holy Bible, My Testament’ is 90 percent towards the £4,000.00 required to fund it.
The Kickstarter campaign has another few days to raise the remaining required funding, so it’s not too late for supporters to get involved. Seb Cooke, who is co-ordinating the project with Barefoot Rascals, said: “The level of excitement and anticipation around the tour is huge and we want to capture some of that. This particular album means so much to so many for a whole variety of reasons.”
Information:
Twenty years after its release we want to assess its huge significance and cultural impact. Award winning music journalist, Manics’ biographer and tour support DJ, Simon Price, will be in conversation with some of The Holy Bible’s biggest fans about the importance of the album and why it means so much to them.
Joining Simon so far will be the internationally acclaimed music photographer Kevin Cummins and writer Rhian E Jones among others.
•Kevin will be sharing and talking about some of his stunning images of the Manics (see below) as well as giving us his thoughts on the album. Kevin’s iconic images of the band from the Holy Bible era feature in his new book Assassinated Beauty and are on exhibition until 11th January at Proud Gallery Camden www.proudonline.co.uk/exhibitions
•Rhian has been a Manics fan since the 90s and has written on the band for New Left Project, Planet Magazine, Wales Arts Review, and her blog Velvet Coalmine. Rhian grew up in South Wales and now lives in London, where she writes on politics, history, popular culture and the places where they intersect. Her first book Clampdown: Pop-Cultural Wars on Class and Gender, a critique of British culture and politics in the 1990s, was included in the Guardian’s Best Music Books of 2013. Look out for the other two names over the coming days!
Simon will also give us his own take on one of the greatest albums ever made featuring:
•An in depth look at the music of The Holy Bible
• An assessment of the cultural, political and social impact it has had
•1994 and the historic London Astoria gigs
Our final interview collection will be over an hours’ worth of footage (plus some bonus material) devoted to The Holy Bible. This will comprise of some archive material, in depth interviews covering the tracks and themes coming from the album and Simon’s authored introduction. We know that the album is well worth that amount of time and more. This will all be available to our backers – see rewards for details.
4 minute versions of four of our interviews will be available for streaming via The Quietus website just before The Holy Bible London gigs, and for a limited time only.
We’re doing this now because it’s an historic opportunity to look behind the music of one of the greatest albums ever recorded. We believe The Holy Bible is just as relevant today as it was in 1994.
