Much has been made of the Manic Street Preachers' attempt to forge a new musical and political militancy, through such antics as their recent gig in Cuba. You can hear it at this Manchester gig, too: the opening song, the nagging New York punk-rocker Found That Soul, is nothing like the polished rock that won the Manics mainstream popularity. But the band were never entirely safe: If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next talks about shooting fascists - it's hardly Steps.
They're full of contradictions, but the Manics would not be the Manics if they didn't please themselves, even if such wilfulness comes at a price. The most interesting thing about the Cuba gig was that it was gloriously flawed, like the Manics themselves. As a symbolic protest against the influence of America it was a great gesture. Unfortunately, in Cuba people like bassist/ lyricist Nicky Wire, who runs around in white-pleated gym skirt and knee-high Argyle socks, are usually thrown into prison.
The Manics make mistakes because they take chances and are constantly changing. They are courageous, as much as a band can be. Consequently they get a hysterical reception, even though Why So Sad (too Herman's Hermits by half), the sentimental Let Robeson Sing and the spunky but tuneless Masses Against the Classes wouldn't feature in any of their opinionated fans' preferred set-list.
The show's a dog's dinner - but it's prime steak. La Tristessa Durera, with its rubbery, hard bassline, is precision songwriting: it alone makes the Manics' career worthwhile. You Love Us, Motorcycle Emptiness and Faster are trashy, gnarled eruptions, shot through with James Dean Bradfield's filthy, futurist guitar solos. It's as if punk never got hijacked by Americans in big shorts.
Even as Bradfield bounces joyfully around, his pit-village soul-scream brings an emotional desperation to every syllable. Meanwhile, Wire pulls strange, hilarious poses-cum-stretching exercises and rants absurdly. To broadsheet journalists who criticise his lyrics, he spits: "You just want to fuck me, but you can't."
They close with Design For Life - among the best singles of the past 10 years, and certainly the only one to celebrate the power of libraries. It ends with Wire unsensationally, methodically and maybe even sarcastically wrecking the stage, his frail arms lazily pushing over speaker stacks while Bradfield's last words, "love you two time, baby", echo insanely. Eventually, Wire stands there, job done, and raises a red feather boa above his head like a football scarf. It's the oddest thing: a rock cliche turned into something quite magnificent.
• Manic Street Preachers play Brixton Academy, London SW9 (020-7771 2000), tomorrow and Saturday, then tour.
