Stone Roses - Mean Fiddler, London, 9/10/2004

  by Olga Sladeckova

published: 15 / 10 / 2004

intro

The Complete Stone Roses are the best known abd the most successful Stone Roses cover band to date. At a show at the London Mean Fiddler Olga Sladeckova finds herself on an unique trip back in time

It’s Saturday evening and a few minutes after 8 o’clock when I enter the London venue, the Mean Fiddler, which is just around the corner from Oxford Street. The last time I came down here was to see the American band Suicide who, after all l had heard about them , in all honesty turned out to be a bit of a disappointment . Tonight I am going back into the past somewhere around 1990. The headlining band are the Complete Stone Roses – the most successful Stone Roses' cover band to date. I’m not a great fan of cover bands, but in the case of the Stone Roses this is the only way we can listen to their great music live again as the original band split up in 1995. It is definitely worth a try on this occasion. The Complete Stone Roses are due on the stage at 8:30 and they stick to time. As the lights are turned downt to signal for the band to come up onstage the fans rush quickly down towards the front. In a few seconds the whole downstairs of the venue is filled with people. 4 men walk up on to the stage but, as a result of the very dark blue lighting that is being used, you can only see their shapes. It really feels like we are being taken back in the past and are looking at the original band setting up to play. I have to admit I never saw the real Stone Roses but somehow I feel that this is almost perfect recreation of what it used to feel like being at one of their gigs. The band pick up their instruments and we are hear the first notes of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’. When Brian McGhee adds the vocals it’s like the past is fully alive. ‘Sally Cinnamon’ comes next. Brian moves around the stage in Ian Brown's characteristic walk, bending over slightly time from time and pointing out in front of him. Craig France on a guitar is an almost identical lookalike of John Squire. He stands steadily on the stage confidently stroking his guitar. Jangly guitars announce ‘Waterfall’. The song’s catchy rhythm starts the fans down the front dancing. I briefly venture upstairs as ‘Sugar Spun Sister’ comes on. From the first floor of the venue you can see the stage vibrating all sorts of different colours as the lights change. The fans surroundi it tightly and dance with joy. ‘She Bangs The Drums’ and ‘Shoot You Down’ are greeted with equal excitement. I’ve always liked the lyric of ‘Going Down’. “She looks like a painting Jackson Pollock number 5” sings Brian in Ian Brown’s voice. With ‘Made Of Stone’ I decide to join the crowd in their ecstasy and start dancing also. It feels great. In fact the only other band I get this feeling from seeing live are Primal Scream. What could possibly end the whole gig better than ‘I Am The Resurrection’? Starting with robust drums you can’t possibly mistake it for any other song. The song must last at least 15 minutes as the band play on and on, stringing the fans along who are lost in its seductive melody. You just never want it to end. Looking at the band they would probably be more than happy to go on for hours. Unfortunately everything has its end and the group go off the stage just seconds before the curfew at 10. I’d say the Complete Stone Roses are the best live band that I have ever seen after Primal Scream, given that I never saw the real Stone Roses or the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Picture Gallery:-