***Published December 2009
At a feeble twenty years old I may have been the youngest person at the Corn Exchange that evening. Floods of late twenties/early thirties men still donning that token Adidas stripe top (zipped-thru to the chin) all here to watch ex Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown perform his own brand of spacey Madchester theatrics.Tonight was going the be the most 90s night Cambridge had seen since err, the 90s. - Not that that was a bad thing of course. Even my companion Richard got partially shellsuited for the occasion.
Brown struts on stage with that recognisable arrogant swagger. The lighting team instructed to make him look as messiah-like as possible. Oozing confidence he bops his shoulders to the competent beats made by the rest of his band. Opening track ‘Love like a fountain’ results in a graceful sway from the audience. Who are careful not to spill their pints, careful not to look like they aren’t having fun. It’s not long before the band play the excellent ‘F.E.A.R.’ The room fills with blinding light, pints are spilled, grown men begin singing their hearts out. All of the sudden the £27 entry fee seems almost justified. I’m having a ball. Eventually Brown takes a break to play with his audience. He makes pincer motions with his hands and accuses the rowdy heckler at front of being a lobster before simply stating ‘This is Cambridge, I thought you people were supposed to be smart.’
There’s almost no denying it; Brown’s music is ever so slightly silly. But the singer’s persona and the conviction he uses to deliver each song is not without its charms. Looking at the crowd and their complete adoration of the King Monkey himself it’s clear I’m not the only one who’s figured this out. However, I guess something about the entire affair seems a little forced. Did I come here to see Ian Brown play or did I come here to watch the guy who sung ‘I am the Resurrection’ in 1992? It wasn’t until the band started the encore with the bulletproof classic ‘Fools Gold’ that I realised that I was probably standing in a room full of Stone Roses fans, myself included. And whether this is saying something about the vitality of Brown’s earlier work or about the quality of his solo work since I’m not entirely sure. But I suppose none of this matters, Brown is still an excellent showman after all these years despite his music swaying occasionally towards the pointless.
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