In pictures: Manic Street Preachers - National Treasures - live at The O2, London 17/12/11

A fantastic night at The O2 last night, definitely gig of the year! I've put the full set list after the pictures - obviously we knew what they were going to play, but not the order

Set list:

• You Stole The Sun From My Heart
• Love's Sweet Exile
• Motorcycle Emptiness
• (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love
• Everything Must Go
• She Is Suffering
• From Despair To Where
• Autumnsong
• Empty Souls
• Let Robeson Sing (with Gruff Rhys)
• Faster
• Life Becoming A Landslide
• Kevin Carter
• Little Baby Nothing
• This Is The Day
• The Everlasting
• Indian Summer
• Stay Beautiful
• If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
• Australia
• La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)
• Found That Soul
• There By The Grace Of God
• Some Kind Of Nothingness
• You Love Us
• Suicide Is Painless
• Revol
• The Love Of Richard Nixon
• Ocean Spray
• The Masses Against The Classes
• Roses In The Hospital
• So Why So Sad
• Postcards From A Young Man
• Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (with Nina Persson)
• Slash 'N' Burn
• Tsunami
• Motown Junk
• A Design For Life

Wear your old band T-shirt day

Today is the 4th annual 'wear your old band T-short day', as dreamt up by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6music. It raises the interestting question of why we buy band t-shirts at all - a souvenir of a great gig? As a way of identifying yourself as part of a tribe? Just because a particular image caught your eye? And do you always buy them from the official merch stall or, like a certain friend of mine, from the hawkers outside - half the price & guaranteed to shrink/fade/fall apart the first time you wash it?

My own all-time favourite band t-shirt has to be the British Sea Power 'Heron Addict' one - it was a souvenir from a great gig, but also I love the pun, and you don't get many t-shirts with birds on the front. Sadly this, like many of my classic band t-shirts (the Radiohead 'South Park' one is another good example) are extremely 'snug' (to put it mildly) and hence don't fit over my maturing frame.

Nevermind though,as there are plenty that do still fit, so today I'm sporting an 11-year old Manic Street Preachers special from V2002. Photographic evidence can be found above and below, I particularly like the quote on the back from Thomas Grunfeld - 'The point is always the same'.

I'm not sure if this has gone global yet, but it should do, so grab yourselves an old t-shirt from the back of the drawer and join in the fun!