Stone Roses Gigs (2 Viewers)

no_loyalty said:

Thinking of buying a couple of tickets for one of the Stone Roses gigs at the Etihad in June, has anyone seen the Stone Roses play live?

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THE STONE ROSES
Reading Festival, August 25, 1996

MICHAEL BONNER: As someone for whom the Roses’ debut had been a pivotal record when growing up, I can’t quite remember why I’d never seen them live. I know I had a ticket for one of the Brixton shows, in December 1995, but the reasons why I never went are lost in the mists of time. And so, I spent most of this particular Reading weekend in a state of hyperactive excitement about finally seeing them live. John and Reni had left the band, and with new guitarist Aziz Ibrahim and drummer Robbie Maddix, the line-up was, admittedly, unrecognisable beyond the name. But still, I clung to the dream – I was finally going to see the Roses.

I went with a friend, and we spent the Sunday afternoon mounting what felt like a military expedition, working out complex equations involving wind speed and direction, relative humidity and visibility to establish exactly where the best place to watch the Roses would be. We found a spot and waited for the band to come on.

It started well enough, opening with “I Wanna Be Adored”, Ibrahim doing a fine impression of Squire’s swirling Celtic guitar motifs. Three minutes in, everyone’s smiling.

And then, Ian Brown began to sing.

His voice was flat, atonal, eye-poppingly dreadful. The crowd began to drift away, many shaking their heads in disbelief. People were actually crying at how bad it was. It felt like an entire generation had been let down.
And it doesn’t get much worse than that.

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