well, what can i say, another day, another Stone Roses post!
security (except in regards of flashers, see previous post) seems to be a lot more relaxed in Spain than it was at Warrington for The Stone Roses, going on the large amount of videos over on that "you tube" thing. in fact, if you had the time and inclination, i think you could go to that site and watch the whole gig from a variety of different angles.
one video that caught my eye was of a rather high quality one, taken presumably from some sort of VIP area to the side, of the classic final song of any Roses set, I Am The Resurrection. by all means google or you tube it yourself, but in the mean time here are a few screenshots of it for your pleasure.
i cannot but help wonder if a certain Liam Gallagher is responsible for this high quality video? it is somewhat unlikely that he has turned to bootlegging, but such is his fandom of the band i would not put it past him, really. whoever took it had a good spot to film from (and i really hope enjoy the gig), many thanks to them for doing so!
there is some interesting speculation about Liam, by the way. apparently at one point at one of the Barcelona gigs Ian Brown said "2012, the year of the comebacks and reunions". it is claimed that he pointed and smiled in the direction of Liam as he did this.
easily excitable types are seeing this as some sort of sign that Liam and Noel are going to get "back together", as it were. i am really not so sure myself - it could be as innocent as the fact that Liam was there with his old mate Bonehead, or perhaps - as preposterous as this would seem to anyone anti-Liam - he in some way brokered part of the peace between the Roses. or maybe it was just a classic throwaway Ian Brown line.
that said, it is very strange that Noel Gallagher has been absent from the Roses revival thus far. he was just as much a fan as anyone of them. if he's avoiding it because he's avoiding running in to Liam (which would also explain Noel's peculiar absence from Man City's recent success) then fair enough i suppose, i just hope it is not Noel deciding he now wishes to be "elite rock aristocracy" and thus does not do this sort of thing anymore.
on that note, there's been all sorts of comments and reviews passed by those not particularly interested in the return of The Stone Roses. this is the first time that a variation of The Stone Roses has played together for 16 years and the first time the "classic four" have played live together since 1990 (!), but this has not given pause for thought to those who could not wait to say "oh, Ian Brown sings out of tune", "oh, they are only doing a 90 minute set" and things like that.
the concerts are looking and sounding great. i cannot wait to be at one of them. it's fantastic to have the band back, great to hear the music again as a going concern rather than a memory of former glories. but let us not for one moment lose sight of the single best, most important part of The Stone Roses being back together again.
that would be that four friends have rekindled and fixed a beautiful friendship.
if you remember the outright mess of how it all ended in the mid-90s ("the wheels fell off, didn't they" understates Ian Brown), that the four of them have built bridges and fixed a friendship, allowing them to once again weave the magic that they do, then it gives you a sense of hope that absolutely anything in this world can be fixed. well, perhaps that's just me being a somewhat out of character idealist on the subject, but it's the impression it has left me with.
i would imagine yet more videos shall be turning up of their European dates over the next two weeks, which of course shall be followed up by the much anticipated Heaton Park weekend. if i see any videos of the quality of this i will no doubt grab some more screens and share them here.
no, i do not have a "bootleg" or any such recording of the Barcelona gigs. with you tube and the right software, well, if you are of a mind to do so you can pretty much make your own! if you can, though, do get to one of the festivals or gigs they are playing!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi there. Thanks for the great post. I just wanted to say that I was at the gig in Barcelona on June 09 and that video you used for the screen shots was not taken from the VIP section.
ReplyDeleteIn the club (Razzmatazz) there are mezzanine areas along the left and right on the second floor. They offered great views, but not if you were standing. You had to sit to see properly and I wanted to dance.
The point is that the angle of the video is taken from the right side of the stage, which was a free access zone. I was up there to check it out myself and chose the main floor instead. The VIP section was on the left.
This, I think, eliminates the possibility that the video was recorded by Liam Gallagher.
Thanks again for the great post!
cheers for the info Brendan! really good to hear that you liked the post!
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