Thursday 19/10/06 James Dean Bradfield, Vega4 @ KOKO, London

Back in spring, James Dean Bradfield, the guitar powerhouse of the Manic Street Preachers, tentatively crept onto the Camden Barfly stage, his debut solo album not yet released and his band barely free from training wheels.

Tonight JDB commands the old Camden Palace like he’s got Sean Moore and Nicky Wire as his comfort blanket next to him, brimming with a confidence in his solo performance that appears to have recently clicked well into place.

Vega4 stir a barely palpable reaction – their blend of latter Snow Patrol MOR and U2 radio-friendly melody less stirring than the between band mix CD. The Jacknife Lee-produced group is certainly making an effort, despite the few dissenting voices in the crowd, but unfortunately it’s a tad bland, predictable and the kind of nonsense toss that the fat suit stereotypes of the recording industry might cream themselves over, after signing a season-long music deal on ‘The OC’.

With their borderline Emo songs featured on cheesy US medical soap/drama, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, Vega4 could be set for a ‘Run’ style hit with ‘Traffic Jam’, particularly in the States, and the music bigwigs could be rightfully rubbing their hands in anticipation. But, the old adage of picking an average support to make the main act sparkle all the more rings true tonight - James’ people have done well, but really there’s no need to push that trick.

His live vocal tonight is so far from first Manics single ‘Suicide Alley’ its leapt across the galaxy to infinity and back again. The Manics’ debut screeching punk of aforementioned track is long left behind – tonight James’ singing is truly something remarkable, his self-assurance seeping from every pore.

Gaining Radio1 and Xfm airplay is possible for Bradfield now, something that in his nihilistic youth he most probably wouldn’t have predicted. ‘That’s No Way To Tell A Lie’ bounces with innocent, sugary angst, whilst ‘An English Gentleman’ is James’ upbeat ode to the past, when the Manics were young and propelled along by the confidence their then manager Philip Hall, who passed away in the early 90s, had in them.