The Stone Roses & Spike Island concert

In March 2018, Ian Brown released an album named "Ripples". He is a member of a famous rock band from Manchester: The Stone Roses.

In 1980, Ian Brown, a bassist at the time, and John Squire, guitarist, who had met at Altrincham Grammar School, formed The Patrol band. They recorded a demo tape but they gave up after a year. In 1983, Brown and Squire constituted a new band with the drummer Simon Wolstencroft. In 1984, The Stone Roses are officially formed with Brown, Squire, Alan John “Reni” Wren as the drummer, Andy Couzens as the guitarist and Pete Garner as the bassist. Their first musical performance was on 23rd October 1984 in London for an anti-heroin concert. One year later, the band recorded his first double single with "So Young/Tell me". The bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield joined the group in 1987. One of their biggest events was their concert at Spike Island in 1990.

Unfortunately, in March 1995, the drummer Reni left the band. Then, in April 1996, Squire did the same because of a “gradual social and musical separation” . Finally, in August 1996, the Stone Roses performed terribly during the Reading Festival: that event caused their final breakup.

During this almost fifteen-year-long breakup, Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni all have had successful careers. They formed other bands or released solo albums. In October 2011, these four artists announced their reunion as The Stone Roses. They organised an “extensive”  Reunion Tour around the world, even though the biggest concerts took place in the UK. Their first public post-reunion concert was held on 23rd May 2012 in Warrington and the last one in Glasgow in June 2017. Together, they also participated in some famous events such as the Coachella and the Isle of Wight Festivals. Following their reunion, two new songs were released:  “All for one” and “Beautiful Thing”.

Concerning their influences, the group was inspired by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the music of Jimi Hendrix.  Their musical style is called 'Madchester' and can be described as a blend of alternative rock, psychedelic rock and electronic dance music. Their own music had an impact on other bands such as Oasis, the leading members of which declared that the Stone Roses had influenced their future music career.

The Stone Roses gave a concert at Spike Island in 1990 which became legendary. The concert took place in the city of Widnes in Cheshire in England on 27th May and was attended by more than 28,000 people. They started the concert with the song “I Wanna Be Adored”. During the concert, they played a new song, "One Love”, and ended with the song “I Am The Resurrection”. There were other artists supporting them, including a Zimbabwean drum orchestra, DJs Dave Haslam and MC Tunes.
A British comedy film inspired by the concert was released on 11th October 2012: Spike Island, starring Emilia Clarke. The first projection of the movie was at the BFI London Film Festival. The plot tells the story of five friends who go to the Spike Island concert of The Stone Roses.

To conclude, the Stone Roses have left their mark on generations and they will be remembered for years to come. They are still popular with their songs and mythical concert.