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The Stone Roses
Spike Island, 27th May, 1990.
"Warning" contains strong language.
"We arrived onsite that day in a Transit van with no windows. Not a f****** helicopter!"
Ian Brown
A tour of town, before the gig.
Many thanks to Tex Kinsella.
"Spike Island was the culmination of an insane year."
"Like with Ally Pally, we had this idea that if we could get a lot of like-minded people in the same place, then we could spark them into doing things themselves. Revolutions start that way....
Despite the hefty beer prices, it was a huge event."
Mani told "Uncut"
One weekend in Widnes
With many thanks to Nic Dunnaway from Bognor Regis.
That's how it felt to a generation that had been desperately seeking their own indie guitar heroes, lads who were also plugged in to ecstasy culture and were unafraid to dance. It was no surprise that a band from Manchester fitted the bill, nor that this rum site on a peninsula facing the River Mersey at Widnes provided the venue for the event of 1990 "It was a bit depressing to find yourself in a horrible field surrounded by huge electric pylons, factories and chemical plants,"
All credits to the owner of this footage.
It was the night kaleidoscopic pop met acid house, where flared trousers flapped and ultra-bright baggy shirts glowed in the dark under a carpet of bowl haircuts and Remi hats. The night when Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown proudly declared, "Time! Time! Time! The time is now."
"I wasn't down the front." says Liam Gallagher.
"I was sort of just loitering about, sitting down, checking it out, until they came out. But I'm not having all these people who go on about the shit sound. I never knew what good sound was! You don't go there and go, "fuckin hell, man, the
acoustics are dreadful in here." do you? It was just windy! I was more worried about my fucking Barnet being blown about, rather than the bass drum sound. They were still there in front of me, the songs were still being heard. As long as the vibes there. I'm not arsed whether the snare's not cutting through"
Spike Island rocked to the latest dance sounds and the music of the hippest group around at the weekend - when the Stone Roses hit town
Around 30,000 fans from as far afield as the Continent and the United States converged on the site for a concert which featured the band tipped as The Next Big Thing: The Stone Roses.
The sun shone as the day rot under way, with first a reggae band and then a selectionof DJs keeping the crowd entertained during the afternoon.
The Stone Roses came on stage at about 9pm and played for more than an hour, with a brilliant light show complementing a tight and professional set, which highlighted singer Ian Brown’s strong voice rather more than the bands records do.
The set culminated in a brilliant fireworks display from behind the stage, which lit up the Widnes skyline.
Thousands of young fans piled in to hear Ian Brown (vocals), Gary Mountfield (bass), Reni (drums) and John Squire (lead guitar), other wise known as the Stone Roses.
"I am the Resurrection" from the Movie
"Spike Island"
The Stone Roses
The Queen's Hall, Widnes
Friday 5th, May, 1989.
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