Caught Live: The Stone Roses @ Heaton Park, Manchester
The Stone Roses finally made the stage at Manchester's Heaton Park last night — all four original members on soggy home soil — and up for the cup.
Mani, Reni, Ian Brown and John Squire... it looked like it might never happen.
As the band came on stage the crowd went absolutely bananas, with frontman Ian, asking: "Are you alright?"
Even Mr Sensible Gary Neville, who has played football in front of 80,000 and millions on telly, said on Twitter he had never seen anything like it.
Ian joked: "As you can see, we've still got it!"
Mani and Reni kept them ticking along like clockwork, and John played like he'd been on stage every day for the past 16 years in front of 100,000.
'We've still got it!' ... Ian Brown and Mani share a joke
REX FEATURESReni's drumming is something to behold — and worth the ticket price alone.
There were question marks about how he'd cope back on the big stage, but he more than answered them.
A lot has been said about Ian's ability to hold a tune — but he sounded spot on to me.
A solid two fingers up to any critics watching, having Reni giving him a guide on backing vocals did the trick and he held the stage in style.
Natural ... John Squire looked at home on stage at Heaton Park
WENN.comThe crowd sang every word, even Bez and Rowetta — standing next to me — seemed to know the hymn sheet.
"I'm standing here/I really don't think you could know that I'm in heaven when you smile"... you should have seen the smiles.
Mani, who was the constant Kofi Annan figure over the difficult wilderness years, looked proud to be back with his boys. And he deserved it.
Of all the people in the arena who should savour the atmosphere, it was him.
The reunion came after tricky circumstances when they all patched it up at Mani's mum's funeral. And you can tell Mani has been touring non-stop with Primal Scream and Bobby Gillespie, for years — he never put a finger wrong all night. His shirt was a bit dodgy though.
Reni Bangs The Drums ... Stone Roses' star impressed
GettyPicking out a highlight is tricky, but Fools Gold — all ten minutes of it — was absolute live genius.
I've seen some huge outdoor gigs in the past — Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Oasis, U2 — and this was up there.
They seldom played Fools Gold back in the day, adding to the feeling of a special occasion as Ian swaggered around on stage.
Red flares burned in the crowd — raising a few worried eyebrows. Glasto's Michael Eavis even looked in fear for his beard at one point.
Ian dedicated Elizabeth My Dear to the Queen, saying: "This is for them 200 miles down the road celebrating 60 years of tyranny." All big bands in that kind of arena need a big song to send people home singing and smiling.
And pulling out I Am The Resurrection for the encore — it really doesn't get much better. Amazing.
Dodgy shirt ... but top performance from Mani
I'm a fan, but a five out five is only fair.
They have made a lot of people happy.
Let's just hope this is the start of something, and not just the end of another beginning.
The band embraced each other to the biggest cheer of the night as the gig ended.
Stealing Ian's mic, Mani said: "Not bad for a bunch of old c****."
Pulling in the crowds ... 100,000 fans turned up to watch music legends perform
I Wanna Be Adored
Mersey Paradise
(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister
Sally Cinnamon
Where Angels Play
Shoot You Down
Bye Bye Badman
Ten Storey Love Song
Standing Here
Fools Gold
Something's Burning
Waterfall
Don't Stop
Love Spreads
Made Of Stone
This Is The One
She Bangs The Drums
Elizabeth My Dear
I Am The Resurrection
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