Review by : Diarmuid Sheehan
Photo’s By : Kieran Frost
Arriving at a midnight gig always adds an extra element of anticipation. Being a big Rose’s fan and having been battered at Rage against the machine on Tuesday, I was looking forward to some ambient Madchester tunes.
The Stone Roses Experience are regarded as the most high profile and accurate tribute to the disbanded Roses. No strangers to the Irish scene The Stone Roses Experience can be caught regularly around many musical haunts in Ireland. The Stone Roses Experience are comprised of Alan Marshal (vocals), Billy Hudson (drums), Craig “Bobo” France (guitar), and Mark “Sparky” Gillespie.
One thing that I always find amusing when you go to see bands such as The Stone Roses, Oasis, and Ocean Colour Scene is they attract the majority of their fans from two tranches of the musical spectrum; you get indie addidas fan, and salt of the earth fan. Queuing outside the academy last night with a mate of mine there was guys wearing two hundred euro’s worth of addidas classics gear with stylishly messed up long hair, and behind us there was two lads wearing fetching Cabrini shirts and sporting tattoo’s declaring their allegiance to the Irish Republic. (This is not a criticism just an independent observation!)
There’s generally always a buzz in The Academy, a lovely little intimate venue which always facilitates an excellent atmosphere. The Academy was filling up in drips and drabs, and there were a couple of murmurs of discontent when the clock was reaching the half twelve mark without a sign of the band. Eventually appearing at no earlier than quarter to one The Roses Experience burst into their set immediately reviving the atmosphere. Lashing through fans favourites Waterfall early on, The Roses Experience immediately illustrated those present that they were not just another cover band, but a really technically competent, confident and tight band. Watching them pour out classic roses songs such as Fools Gold, I Wanna Be Adored, as well as the eternal I Am The Resurrection was immense. The highlight of the night for
myself was an instrumental interpretation of the Jackson Five’s I Want You Back, which heralded some over zealous soul dance moves on my part.
In particular I thought guitarist Craig France was phenomenal, and worth of singling out for applause. John Squire the original Rose’s guitarist was the driving force behind the band and he would have been proud to witness France’s display last night. Stepping out side of the comfort zone France included some of his own spontaneous riffs and additions, a characteristic that really makes the difference between watching an excellent tribute act and feeling like your listening to a re run of an album.
An excellent band on an excellent night at an excellent venue. If I could have a Friday night like that every week I would be a content man. If the chance arises you could do a lot worse than check out The Stone Roses Experience.
