Visually, to watch Ian Brown perform live is to witness something iconic. He is a man that, along with the rest of the Stone Roses, helped shape the way that music sounds today. You see, without the Stone Roses then you wouldn't have bands like Oasis and The Charlatans. And without the Gallagher brothers, Kasabian wouldn't have picked up guitars in the first place - and so on.Ian Brown has achieved so much since he first picked up the mic back in the eighties. As a result of this, when you watch him now you get the feeling that you're watching someone of great importance. You can't help but get swept up in the Brown whirlwind that surrounds him everywhere he goes. The image of the Mancunian jogging on the spot whilst looking at the world through his oversized sunglasses as he jabs a tambourine out over the audience is nothing short of legendary. And believe me, Brown deserves the title of a legend.
You see, people get labeled as a legend far too easily nowadays. For example, your mate Dave runs down the shop to grab you a pint of milk; "Cheers, Dave. You're a legend". Or your mate Dave saves you his last Rolo; "You must of known I was starving. What a legend!". Or your mate Dave can sort you out cheap flights to Magaluf as he's currently knocking off a travel agent from Thomson; "Yes Dave! Magaluf for £40... LEGEND!" Now, as much as you love Dave, he's not an actual legend. However, a man who has been crowed a God Like Genius by NME and sold albums by the millions is. And that man is Ian Brown.
Just like Dirk Diggler and Amber Waves; Brixton Academy and the former Stone Roses front man work together perfectly. Prior to the weekend just passed, Brown had sold out London's 5,000 capacity venue a massive eight times as a solo artist. And after his shows on Friday and Saturday, it's now ten.
Brixton was entertained to seven tracks off his new album, My Way. These included Stellify and Just Like You. Brown is obviously trying to move away from his Stone Roses routes by cutting his previous bands tracks to a minimum. Although it's great to hear the old Roses stuff, it's also nice to hear an established artist pushing new music; which is something I'm all for.
Now, as I stated earlier, visually Brown was epic. However, it would be wrong of me to write a review of the evening and not speak about him vocally. As we all know, Brown is not the best singer on the planet. But there were points where his voice did hit an all time low. He started well and ended well. Yet there were points in the middle where his voice was so far away from what we are so use to on our iPod that it was bordering on ridiculous. However, although Ian Brown is a singer by trade, you don't go to an Ian Brown show to just listen to him sing; you go to experience the whole Ian Brown package. The buzz and hype that surrounds the man is so addictive that it sucks you in like a Dyson.
I mean, if Brown was to audition for X Factor, Cowell & Co would laugh him out of their studio stating that he would never sell a record with a voice like that. Yet, he has sold a record. In fact, he's sold millions of the fucking things. And in addition to that, he's still selling out gigs wherever he goes 25 years after he first took the stage with The Stone Roses. It's not bad at all for a man that keep a note about as well as a Laughing Hyena.
However, once you draw a line under everything, you can't hide from the fact that this man is a true great. He's done more for music than most could ever dream of. He's been responsible for some of the most inspirational records of all time and he continues to push boundaries now. And for that you can't fault him.
Ian Brown played:
Love Like A Fountain
Golden Gaze
Time is Everything
All Ablaze
Longsight M13
Keep What Ya Got
Save Us
Crowing Of The Poor
Corpses
Laugh Now
Vanity Kills
Own brain
Marathon Man
Sister Rose
F.E.A.R
Elizabeth My Dear / Fools Gold
Stellify
Just Like You
You see, people get labeled as a legend far too easily nowadays. For example, your mate Dave runs down the shop to grab you a pint of milk; "Cheers, Dave. You're a legend". Or your mate Dave saves you his last Rolo; "You must of known I was starving. What a legend!". Or your mate Dave can sort you out cheap flights to Magaluf as he's currently knocking off a travel agent from Thomson; "Yes Dave! Magaluf for £40... LEGEND!" Now, as much as you love Dave, he's not an actual legend. However, a man who has been crowed a God Like Genius by NME and sold albums by the millions is. And that man is Ian Brown.
Just like Dirk Diggler and Amber Waves; Brixton Academy and the former Stone Roses front man work together perfectly. Prior to the weekend just passed, Brown had sold out London's 5,000 capacity venue a massive eight times as a solo artist. And after his shows on Friday and Saturday, it's now ten.
Brixton was entertained to seven tracks off his new album, My Way. These included Stellify and Just Like You. Brown is obviously trying to move away from his Stone Roses routes by cutting his previous bands tracks to a minimum. Although it's great to hear the old Roses stuff, it's also nice to hear an established artist pushing new music; which is something I'm all for.
Now, as I stated earlier, visually Brown was epic. However, it would be wrong of me to write a review of the evening and not speak about him vocally. As we all know, Brown is not the best singer on the planet. But there were points where his voice did hit an all time low. He started well and ended well. Yet there were points in the middle where his voice was so far away from what we are so use to on our iPod that it was bordering on ridiculous. However, although Ian Brown is a singer by trade, you don't go to an Ian Brown show to just listen to him sing; you go to experience the whole Ian Brown package. The buzz and hype that surrounds the man is so addictive that it sucks you in like a Dyson.I mean, if Brown was to audition for X Factor, Cowell & Co would laugh him out of their studio stating that he would never sell a record with a voice like that. Yet, he has sold a record. In fact, he's sold millions of the fucking things. And in addition to that, he's still selling out gigs wherever he goes 25 years after he first took the stage with The Stone Roses. It's not bad at all for a man that keep a note about as well as a Laughing Hyena.
However, once you draw a line under everything, you can't hide from the fact that this man is a true great. He's done more for music than most could ever dream of. He's been responsible for some of the most inspirational records of all time and he continues to push boundaries now. And for that you can't fault him.
Ian Brown played:
Love Like A Fountain
Golden Gaze
Time is Everything
All Ablaze
Longsight M13
Keep What Ya Got
Save Us
Crowing Of The Poor
Corpses
Laugh Now
Vanity Kills
Own brain
Marathon Man
Sister Rose
F.E.A.R
Elizabeth My Dear / Fools Gold
Stellify
Just Like You
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