For Stone Roses fans it was better late than never, probably much better than when they were playing 20-plus years ago. All four were present and accounted for…drummer Reni wearing some questionable headgear, bassist Mani looking a little worse for wear, guitarist John Squire, head bowed, hair dangling and vocalist Ian Brown, he of mighty cheek bones and attitude to match.
I would bet that, five years ago, most of the fans at the nearly-full Vector Arena would have thought it almost impossible that they would be witnessing a show with all four members of The Stone Roses, but miracles do happen. That said, this was as much a celebration as a concert. Sure it a nostalgia-fest, but it served to remind one what music is all about…the power to transport the listener back in time, to be able to re-create a time and a place that is long gone, to become transcendent. And that’s what The Stone Roses were tonight.
At 9:15 the lights went down and the PA played The Supremes’ 1970 hit, Stoned Love. Then the band took the stage and Mani’s rumbling bass got things going with I Wanna Be Adored, the first track from their near-legendary first album.
And adored they were.
Ian Brown may not be the world’s best singer, but he knows how to command a stage. He raised his arms over his head in triumph as the song ended and the crowd roared.
For those wanting to get a closer look, there were three large high-definition video screens above the stage. The picture quality was awesome. The lighting was also impressive…not too showy, but it definitely enhanced the mood.
The set was heavy with tunes from that first album…eight of the 15 songs played, with only two from Second Coming. The rest were early singles and B-sides. And when you have B-sides as good as Something’s Burning and Where Angels Play, why not play them?
Once he got warmed up, Reni was a monster on the drums, sounding at times like The Who’s Keith Moon. Mani’s throbbing bass got the body moving but it was Squire’s guitar playing that really made the evening special. His solo on Where Angels Play was powerful and melodic. By the time they got to Shoot You Down the band was jamming furiously, stretching out the psychedelic funk-rocker to the delight of the crowd. Squire whipped out another killer solo, throwing in The Beatles’ Daytripper riff for fun.
Things came to a crashing halt at the beginning of Waterfall, when Brown stopped the band, not once, but twice, before getting it right. “It’s OK”, he reassured the crowd, who may have thought they were witnessing a classic Stone Roses meltdown, “We don’t play to tapes”. Sure enough, take three proved to be a keeper, with Squire big slashing power chords taking the band to new heights.
There was plenty of opportunity for some good old fashioned fist-pumping during Made Of Stone and Brown showed off a few dance moves after This Is The One.
The energy level rose even higher as they launched into the Led Zep-like Love Spreads and then sealed the deal with the one-two punch of She Bangs The Drum and I Am The Resurrection which gave the band one last chance to jam.
There was no encore…there was no need, just the sounds of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song as the spent crowd filed out. And yes, you could say The Stone Roses had indeed redeemed themselves after being away for so many years.
Marty Duda
Check out this gallery of Stone Roses concert pix, taken by ace photographer Michael Flynn:
The Stone Roses set list:
- I Wanna Be Adored
- Mersey Paradise
- (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister
- Sally Cinnamon
- Ten Storey Love Song
- Where Angels Play
- Shoot You Down
- Fools Gold
- Something’s Burning
- Waterfall
- Made Of Stone
- This Is The One
- Love Spreads
- She Bangs The Drums
- I Am The Resurrection
2nd row back and wearing earplugs, i can comfirm that their playing was exquisite and Ian’s singing was good. Only fools’s gold failed to hit perfection. It was womderful to watch the comcentration that Mani and John, not surprisingly, have to apply to achieve their greatness. Reni’s nonchalant swing will stay with me a lifetime.
Properly superb show, absolutely loved it, great to see so many young ‘uns there getting right into it too.. Couldn’t comment much on the sound quality as I was right in the thick of it up front, but I did notice the quality coming and going while walking across the floor while Zane Lowe was playing his (oddly selected, but in fairness very well mixed) set. I feel sorry for folks who were standing in some of the dead spots. Your setlist is missing Don’t Stop (unless I was enjoying myself so much I went into some sort of trance and imagined it). Thanks for the review.
great review – great show…taken today off work to recover, haven’t freaky danced so much in years….now if only the La’s would come here I can die happy
A really great review. @John – you never go to a concert with Ian Brown to expect him to be melodious. The man is a cultural legend, he could stand on stage mute waving his sticks and it would be worth the money alone.
Fools Gold was a heavy head crushing throbbing live version of it’s dancier original and the band selected Something’s Burning right after it to mellow the audience out before lifting them back up with Waterfall. That was a masterstroke of set selection.
The impro / jamming was very authentic and really absorbed the audience as we knew we were witnessing real quality music.
Thanks for the the review and thanks to the Roses for coming. I never thought I would get the chance after emigrating 6 years ago to see my heros.
I have to agree with John. Maybe after 24 years, my expectations were hard to meet. I thought the band was great, but I’m not sure Ian Brown really showed up.
Not sure I feel as enthusiastic about the gig as your review. The first few songs felt ecstatic as everyone just felt amazed seeing the lads on stage together, in this country. But felt things lagged a bit about half way through. Keenly awaited Fools Gold but they dragged it out into a 15 minute jam which wasn’t a patch on its recorded version and Somethings Burning was underwhelming to say the least (even Ian looked bored at that point). Felt things picked up towards the end, with the aforementioned This is the One and Love Spreads. A mixed bag then. Some moments of greatness amidst a few ordinary extended funk work outs. And I know it’s been said manh times before but I’ll say it again, the sound at Vector is atrocious. Could barely make out Brown’s vocals and Squire’s clean, melodic guitar lines were a fuzzy mess.
Thanks for commenting. I agree Brown’s vocals were buried in the mix…very annoying, but from where I was sitting, the guitar sounded clear as a bell. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed the longer, instrumental bits more than you did.
Fools Gold and Somethings Burning are both heavily produced studio tracks, with multiple overdubs including a sampled drum loop for Fools Gold and some sampled reversed and then independent overdubbed percussion on Somethings Burning. Playing both those songs completely live requires many abbreviations to the produced versions I am stoked to have heard both, warts and all. I will agree the sound quality was completely rubbish though, along with the terribly compressed drum sound the only time the bass had volume and articulation was a couple of minutes during Somethings Burning, and i was in front of the mixing desk. That wasnt going to stop this old fan enjoying the gig!
.. a truly excellent show.. saw them near 20 yrs ago on the second coming tour and they were dreadful, this time round it really was something special.. great show, nice review
Thanks for the excellent write up. Off to work this a.m. And you’re first off with a review. Nice one. Was about as excellent a night as any fan could have hoped for.