While it was no surprise to hear that the return of Manchester’s own, The Stone Roses, was met by a clamour for tickets to see them play live together again, personally I thought I’d give it a miss.
I’d always enjoyed listening to their distinctive indie sounds back in the 90s before the likes of Oasis came onto the scene. I put them on the same level as James and The Charlatans in terms of the impact they had on me around that time.
Their music was typical of the sounds I danced like a madman to, in the dingy Manchester indie club affectionately known as 5th Av.
But the years have not been kind to the members of the Roses and Ian Brown’s voice, while distinctive, was never all that great. Still, it was the fact that I was not willing to fork out the £55-plus on a ticket which meant I would pass on the chance to see them play Heaton Park next year.
After a brief tour of the UK, taking in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, the American rockers from Springfield, Massachusetts have revealed that they plan to come back during the first half of 2012.
I managed to get tickets to see the band last Saturday night in Manchester’s intimate Academy 2 venue, where lead vocalist Aaron Lewis prompted cheers from the audience by declaring his intention to return around May time.
While the performance lasted just under an hour and a half, the set was full of classics as well as some of Staind’s more recent heavier offerings. They brought a good mix, blending stuff from their back catalogue with songs from their self-titled 2011-released album. And yes, they played It’s Been A While…
Californian rockers Weezer marked the recent news that Mikey Welsh, their former bassist who was found dead in a Chicago hotel on the eve of their RIOTfest show, by dedicating their performance to his memory and honour.
The shocking news hit the band hard as the 40-year-old, who played with the alternative rock outfit from 1998-2001, had lost “a beautiful, creative, hilarious and sweet friend” as well as a “unique talent”.
Despite the fact that Mikey had only been with the band for a relatively short time, they had remained in contact and he was due to attend the Chicago rock event.
Weezer said in a statement on their website:
“To play the show and play it well tonight is to honor him and his memory. We have a feeling he will be watching.”
Throughout today the tributes have been pouring in across the internet after it was announced that Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of technology giant Apple had died.
The 56-year-old innovator was attributed with all kinds of inventions we take for granted in the digital age. With products such as the iPod and the software iTunes, the music industry has been completely transformed.
The online music market is now big business and a lot of this has been put down to this visionary. So it is fair to say that the man had a hand in all genres of music, making the record labels stand up and take notice of what consumers wanted. This is something which can only be commended.
Whether you are an Apple fanboy or not, the work Steve Jobs did in his lifetime is certainly something to admire.