GIG NUMBER THIRTY-FOUR
Who
F.E.A.R. was quite good too, as was If Dolphins Were Monkeys and My Star, although his greatest hit was ruined by the fact I'd been dragged so far away from the front by the hooligan element in the crowd, with one maniac bending over and trying to headbutt his way forwards like an animal!! And of course the rest of the audience were suffering from their own stupidity in making such a fuss about the opening b-sides so were all knackered by the time the real songs came! One of the highlights was when monkey boy gave us a quick snippet of Fools Gold: showing us he wasn't afraid to acknowledge his old songs a little bit. The cheers at this point were naturally deafening! The man himself was typically cool, making continual "chh! chh!" noises, while seemingly engaged in a gentle boxing match with an invisible foe throughout the show. I suppose I understand why everyone worships him, and it's nice to know he's still making good music, meaning the crowd don't particularly care that he didn't yet throw in loads of Roses hits. So, apart from the hooligans and my lateness, other negatives were that the price was outrageous - approaching £20 after the booking fee - and that there were a few omissions: that is Free My Way and Billie Jean. However, credit must be given that this was still a pretty good night out despite the many elements conspiring against me.
Mark: 7.5/10
Ian Brown
Support
South
Where
Manchester Apollo
When
24th November 2001
Price
£17.50
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front, in the moshpit
Comments
After seeing a tribute to The Stone Roses, I got to see the monkey man himself. I had actually seen Ian Brown twice previously at festivals but this was the first time I'd ever paid money to watch him, being the first time I'd ever felt a desire to watch the man outside a laddish festival environment. The first interesting thing to point out was that Fools Gold were down the front, proving themselves to be genuine fans. However, I was particularly annoyed at not being at the front myself after only joining the queue very late on and not being able to find the venue. Also, due to breaking my glasses a few seconds before departing for the gig, I was deprived of all visual enjoyment. South opened the night with what I recall was an OK set. Then Ian Brown came on to the worst possible start. After the astonishing bicycle stunt at V2001, he just wandered on after a massive wait and proceeded to play three b-sides. For some bizarre reason the crowd went mad, leaving only me with the sense to stand there and not be fobbed off with this. Thankfully though the hits did come after this onstage soundcheck. Love Like A Fountain was electric, as was Corpses In Their Mouths.
