Thursday 27 May 2010

Spike Island: 20th Anniversary

Did you know that it is the 20th anniversary of The Stone Roses Spike Island gig today? Yep. 27th May 1990 is when the world's most disappointing mini festival took place which saw people faced with a thousand hours of DJs and people shouting "MVITA! Manchester Vibes In The Area!" from the mouths in their round little sun-burned heads (apart from those in Reni sunhats of course).

Over to the words of Everett True, writing for the Melody Maker at the time:

"So today’s show – and it’s plusses an minuses – doesn’t matter. It’ll have been enough for The Stone Roses to have said they played in front of 28,000 people, it’ll be enough for the faithful to be able to wear their “Spike Island: 1990” tee-shirts and announce, “I was there when Manchester vibes were full on in the area”."

All he missed was the fact that half of Manchester would be saying it for the next 20 years. Anyway, here are some children re-enacting that fabled weekend in a fashion much more entertaining and enthusiastic than the performance given by The Stone Roses on the day itself. Feel free to wallow in nostalgia Mockunians.


3 comments:

  1. The sound quality in this clip is better than the actual gig.

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  2. ...andfurthermoreagain28 May 2010 at 12:16

    I reckon you could probably recreate the Spike island experience pretty well in your own back garden without too much trouble. Simply get your mate to listen to the Stone Roses album really loudly on headphones a couple of streets away whilst you melt some plastic and inhale the fumes, craning your ears to listen whilst your girlfriend repeatedly attempts to sell you a Reni hat and ready rolled joints (ie all tobacco with a crumb of hash in the end so you get monged immediately and don't notice you've been ripped). Hurrah, here's to legend! It lives on and on and on and on.......

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  3. Well I have to say I enjoyed the gig, though I've been to many many other, and far better, gigs since and they probably won't be celebrated as some kind of musical landmark for 20 years (and quite a few of them should).

    Also, 'The Stone Roses' is not remotely the "best debut album ever", it's not even the best MCR debut album.

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