FabFour2

one of the loudest bands around, andie and chad especially. mansun, live, add a whole new facet to their recordings. sometimes they only managed one or two songs - not all monitors pass the mansun test. mansun's first appearance at glastonbury ('97) was a disaster, they played one song and their equipment blew. in australia mansun once caused a tv show staff to walk out by being too loud. mansun gigs are very rock and roll in the traditional sense of an exciting and energetic performance of excellent songs i.e. every performance is a SHOW, something to remember. in the uk weekly music press mansun won melody maker readers best live act of 1998 and figured strongly in the polls, ranked alongside the highest profile bands in the country.
"If I come offstage and I'm not fucked totally, out of breath and with nothing left to give, then it's not a good gig."		"As a band of people we're dead quiet. We're in the eye of a hurricane with all this chaos going on around us, but it's dead quiet in the middle".
mansun are the biggest rock band to come from chester. "stripper vicar" got up the nose of the local clergy when released. a few later were stories of bonking bishops in the national press		mansun and their fans have been called "weird" and "inexplicable" at the same time as a generally accepted view of "nothing exciting's happening in music etc" many fans of many bands may disagree, the mansun family certainly would!
"The decadent rock star thing is full of shit..." "...We're just the same as the people that are into us. There's no divide"
why "the fab four"? because of their song crafting ability. they are peers of the greatest bands. prolific, original, great musicians and vocalists with a rhythm you really can dance to. how can people not be crazy over them? sure fans lust over them, but that's only a facet of their appeal. they may be good looking and a bit sexy, but mostly they're talented. what's the point of having your eyes pleased if your ears are getting bored. most mansun fans HEARD them before they SAW them. it is the music, above anything else, which is a great achievement that ranks Mansun along side the legends of the decades. the fact that they have largely been discovered by word of mouth until the ranks swelled too much to be ignored, makes them an exciting walk on the wild side as far as major league bands go, and of course each one is somebodys favourite... hence: the fab four
"My first show was TFI Friday, nine million viewers. The day before I'd gone to Bristol for my first gig and it was in Brighton! I got there and checked the gig guide in the back of the NME and I thought, 'It's in Brighton! Sheeeeit!!" Andie, bless him, talking to NME.
"Liverpool has this mythical scene of bands that all hang out together and we just don't fit in. They call us plastic scousers but we're not interested in that." Mansun talk to John Robb, (Melody Maker, Oct 95)
on one american tour (97 support the seahorses, who they blew off stage nearly every night) mansun got in the way of the filming of Baywatch. The director ordered the "pasty goths on the beach" out of the way.		mansun had Ł25,000 worth of five pound notes thrown away at liverpool street station, london, for the taxlo$$ video, it turned the station into a flurry of money grabbing. railtrack were not amused but couldn't say much as their employees were caught on film stuff fivers in their pockets. the band were in japan at the time.
"there's a misconception about what we do" (paul)
So what are Mansun most looking forward to? "Three new Star Wars films" deadpans Stove. (Rocklands zine Whirlpool interviewed the band Summer - Nov '95 for the first issue)
this originally appeared in full on Juiced, music website of The Telegraph, July '98 I care very much when my mind is challenged with musical genius. Along with the new Manic Street Preachers album , Six is not only one of THE releases of 1998, but of modern music in general. I have to write this as I am still buzzing on the adrenaline created by hearing it. Wow, drugged by sound! Even having heard the Mansun EP releases One to Eight and their debut album Attack Of The Grey Lantern, you can not imagine what is coming. Six is easily one of the most innovative rock recordings, and surely the most daring. Not everybody will get it, but then not everybody gets "OK Computer" another great rock classic of the 21st century. One-band-cult Mansun follow a huge-selling No.1 debut walking a tightrope over commercial suicide but having aired songs from Six like Negative and Shotgun to such an enthusiastic response that fans already shout for them at gigs - it’s a sure footed walk. Mansun are not reliant on critical massage anyway. Their fan base is huge, loyal and won’t be told by anybody (not even Mansun) what they like or don’t like. It’s not being a Mansun fan that makes me love Six, it is that this album has made me LOVE Mansun. The relationship with fans is a unique "mates" affair, with fans having heard tracks at the studio. How many bands would let their fans be the first to give them honest feedback? Six is ambitions, exciting, inciting, clever, totally unique, inspired and inspiring. I know two other people who have heard it, they are both similarly affected. One admitted to having "waited for such an album for ten years" - sometimes the Perfect Rock Act is too close to see. There are many surprises to Six, but the biggest one is that this just does not sound like anything else I have ever heard. Along with vaguely discernible references, it’s greatest influence is Mansun. Love it? Hate it? Yes. Ignore it? No? I’ve always felt that Mansun were capable of anything and everything musically, but Six surpasses my expectations. One hearing has affected me deeply. I can’t wait for September when I can own a copy, sit uninterrupted in the dark, and wallow in it’s delicious self indulgence. Drugs not even necessary. Live, Mansun are so powerful that they make Donnington look like a Teletubbies convention. Coupled with two brilliant albums from completely different planets. It’s about time the "Emperor’s New Clothes" posse removed their cool-due-shades and saw Mansun for what they really are ...can not prepare you for what is coming, get ready to take a proper look at Mansun and fall in love. minxy
paul and chad used to go to wrexham college	magazine, manic street preachers, suede, radiohead, hendrix, george michael, prince		stove and paul worked at wirral graphics in ellesmere port
Mansun have been steeped in underground culture from day one. A hive of creativity surrounds them and many fanzines, websites etc sprung up on their wavelength, much to the band's appreciation. Deeside Caviar was the first Mansun fanzine done by Sarah in Wales.
six album sleeve, pure marxism, taoism, a.a.milne, brian jones, marquis de sade, religeon		"six" is the only video that mansun themselves have appeared in from the album "six"
		"witness to a murder (part II)" was played by vivienne westwood during her london fashion week show
		dreams, politics, 6, sky news, brian jones, dark mavis, the holy blood and the holy grail, sci fi hi fi, grey lantern
		a very young paul draper had his guitar smashed up by bullies
		Along with The Clash and The Stone Roses, Mansun are one of the bands that photographer Pennie Smith spent a lot of time on tour etc with...
pennie smith
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