Manic Street Preachers - Manic Street Preachers To Host Royal Jubilee Alternative

Manic Street Preachers To Host Royal Jubilee Alternative

Manic Street Preachers will play a concert as an alternative to Britain's Diamond Royal Jubilee next year.

The Welsh 'A Design for Life' group were initially planning a year off in 2012, but bass player Nicky Wire now says they will play as a show to avoid Celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne.

Speaking at the iTunes festival in London, Nicky said: "We were going to take a year off from touring altogether next year but we are going to do one gig just to avoid the Diamond Jubilee."

Referring to the Queen's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, he added: "I mean, how f***ing saturated have we been with the Royal Family this year? So there'll be one gig, just to avoid having to listen to Prince Philip for an hour."

Jubilee celebrations are set to run from June 2 to 5 next year. In 2011 a bank holiday was declared in April for the day Prince William married Catherine Middleton, a televised event which dominated the media for weeks.

Manic Street Preachers are not the only band to protest a royal celebration, as punk band The Sex Pistols released their single 'God Save the Queen' in May 1979 - a month before the monarch celebrated her Silver Jubilee. The controversial and provocative track has been interpreted as an attack on the Monarchy and was banned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).