Happy & Reunited: The Stone Roses

Happy & Reunited: The Stone Roses

A lackluster year in Britpop was singlehandedly saved last weekend by a three-night reunion of The  Stone Roses. A lot was riding on this gig. Artist Damien Hirst staked his diamond studded reputation when he uttered, “The Stone Roses are important than Picasso.” With broad boasts like this, The Stone Roses needed to be good for the sake of national pride, regardless of how England performs in the damn Olympics.

The reunion was in the Roses hometown of Manchester, with a sort of mini-fest that was an eclectic who’s who of Britpop spread over the past two decades (Mick Jones, Primal Scream, The Vaccines, Liam Gallagher). You wouldn’t expect the weather to cooperate, it didn’t, but you would’ve expected Ian Brown’s voice to improve a little after a decade of touring as a solo act, it also didn’t. But this didn’t bother the 220,000 rain soaked punters who were instantly won over by the first few chugging bass lines of “I Wanna Be Adored.” A singalong erupted and the band were bang on, sending the audience into ecstasy during extended cuts like “Fools Gold”.

Who cared if pints of piss were flying about due to a lack of toilet facilities? This wee problem did little to temper fans who waited 16 long years and exorbitant scalper prices to see a band who many thought would never reform. And, they may be the last band with enough bollocks to write songs with  grandiose  song titles like “This Is the One” and “I am the Resurrection”.

A crap-out, on the other hand, would have set back Britpop for another decade, done irreparable damage to the collective UK psyche and certainly doomed the recently started solo careers of the Gallagher brothers. Fortunately, the music was simply too good to fail, and the audience had already invested too much into these songs to endure a mediocre performance. And thankfully, John Squire’s swirly guitar licks were all there, and bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield’s bass lines pounded a steady beant and Alan “Reni” Wren’s northern soul fills and rhythm brought to life a sound that has never been replicated, nor topped.

While Brown and his mates got it right in their hometown gig, what happens as the band heads on a brief festival tour of Europe and Asia? By the looks of this triumphant hometown performance, we are all in for a treat. A band that popularized the underground sound of Primal Scream and Jesus and the Mary Chain, and had the foresight to stop before genre became sloppy and nostalgic.

And after a very long hiatus, The Stone Roses are still vital, relevant, and cocky. A formula that all of their successors in the genre of Britpop had a very difficult time following.

Here is the band’s official website

And in case you weren’t aware, The Stone Roses play the headline slot on the Green State on Friday from 9:30 till 11pm. Expect the whole festival to be there!