Brownie, Doesn't Have To Sell His Soul.........

The Carling Academy or Oxford Zodiac as it’s still affectionately known, seemed different and somewhat smaller than what I remember, which made the whole feel to the place a little odd. This was probably due to the lack of smoke in the air, which actually meant you could see from one end of the room to the other, with smokeless eyes and indeed lungs (not that you see with your lungs, but you get my point).

We arrived 30 minutes or so before the event which give us plenty of time to get a couple of Grolsch’s in, participate in the anticipation and get a feel of the already buzzing atmosphere.

The crowd a mix of old and new Brownie fans, eagerly awaited his arrival and I wondered what type of Brown performance we’d get tonight. Would it be full of new songs, from his new album ‘The World Is Yours’, or would he treat us to a back-catalogue of old favourites, with some Stone Roses anthems thrown in for good measure. Also. would he put on a decent vocal performance or would he come on stage, looking like he doesn’t want to be there, and trail through his songs, off key and languorous. I knew what I hoped for. A couple of die hard fans piped up with the, Ian Brown, Ian Brown, Ian Brown football-type chant as the guitar tuners and sound testers finished off just before he was due on stage, and it, it being the stage, was indeed set.

The blue stage lights faded and everything was dark as the dramatic orchestral sound from ‘Save Us’ off his new album accompanied Mr Brown and the band on stage. Once the cheers and whistles of the crowd died down, Brownie began rambling on about how going to college is good and if anyone in the room went to Oxford college, yadda, yadda. Brilliant, I thought, he’s going to start preaching to us and try to put the world to rights. But no, a baseline started up, quiet at first but got louder and louder, and not just any baseline, but the baseline of ‘I wanna be adored’. Fucking Brilliant. That got the crowd fired up from the off, all he had to do now was keep it going. He followed this up with fabulous renditions of ‘Dolphins Were Monkeys’, ‘Solarized’, ‘Time Is My Everything’ and ‘The Sweet Fantastic’ as he swaggered round the stage, tambourine in hand looking like he was actually really enjoying himself.

It was steaming hot and I could feel the sweat running down my back as a women was carried from the front looking like she’s fainted. Just then Brownie, in his true Mancunian style, microphone slung around his neck, decided to teach the crowd who couldn’t or weren’t prepared to dance, how to do the “Shoulder Shuffle”. This basically involved raising one shoulder in time to the music, but Brown enthusiastically encouraged it. He then introduced ex-Smith bassist Andy Rouke, “just flown in from Rio, that’s Rio, not rehab” before belting out ‘Keep What You’ve Got’ and ‘Corpses’ (accompanied by Browns Harmonica).

An unusual, but brilliant military style, marching drum rendition of ‘My Star’ preceded ‘Longsight M13’ and ‘Golden Gaze’ where Brown jogged though the whole song, bowing his arms like a athletic rapper which led up to his sets finale.
The set ended with an extended version of the Roses classic ‘I am the resurrection’ which had everything. Crowd participation, full instrumental, Browns charismatic swaggery dancing and finished with rapturous applause, whistles and cheers. Magic.

The band disappeared for a couple of minutes and appeared again as expected for their encore which began with the new albums lead single ‘Illegal Attacks’. This was followed by another new song ‘Sister Rose’, which has some feverish guitar blended with powerful lyrics. The next song was a bizarre but clever amalgamation of the music from ‘Fools Gold’ to the lyrics of ‘The World Is Yours’, it was a brilliant funk-infused upbeat combination, with a trumpeter and Rouke’s stylist bass playing.

They ended the night with ‘F.E A.R’, which was performed with aplomb and hauntingly finished. The audience showed their appreciation of a truly fantastic nights work by Ian Brown and his band as they left the stage to thunderous applause and chanting of Browns name. This was richly deserved as I don’t think I’ve witnessed a better performance by Brown, vocally or in stage-presence. Sweet Fantastic.