Suede may be celebrating their acclaimed new album Autofiction on this latest headline tour, but playing 30 years to the exact date their self-titled debut was released was too big a moment not to mark here in Manchester.
And so it was that fans packing into the Albert Hall on Wednesday night were greeted with a setlist of rarely-performed treats from that astonishing debut that has cemented Suede's place in rock 'n' roll history. Not that those 30 years seem to have dimmed the spirit and swagger of a band that feel at the top of their game right now.
The Britpop pioneers were here in Manchester for the second time this month - playing once again to a sold out audience within the atmospheric setting of the Albert Hall. The former chapel is a natural stomping ground for the preacher-like figure of frontman Brett Anderson who betrays barely a hint of the ageing process.
