Bristol Evening Post 7th July 2005



IAN BROWN BRISTOL ACADEMY REVIEW


It's funny how the balance of power has shifted between Ian Brown and John Squire since the implosion of the Stone Roses.

While the guitarist came straight out of the blocks with the mediocre yet highly commercial Seahorses, Brown relesaed a modest DIY solo debut to muted acclaim.

Now four albums into his career, Brown decidedly has the upper hand and it's Squire who is making all the noises about a long-awaiting Roses reunion.

At his last Academy show, Brown only tempted us with a brief snatch of Fools' Gold, but this time we were treated to five Roses classics.

After a brief run-through of the title track from his latest album Solarized, Brown blitzed the crowd with a quite astonishing opening salvo of favourites by his former band - Sally Cinnamon, Made Of Stone and Waterfall.

The extraordinary reaction left nobody in doubt as to how well loved the Roses remain.

A lumpen cover of the Sex Pistols' Submission brought things back to Earth with a bump though before Forever And A Day and The Sweet Fantastic ushered in a change of pace, complete with Mariachi trumpets.

And Keep What YOu Got, the stand-out track from his new record, proved that he's still at the top of his game and capable of anthemic choruses from the very top drawer.

A second peak came with the appearance of She Bangs The Drums and FEAR, which ratched the mood up another notch but things fell apart when an over-exuberant fan threw something at him. After the singer offered the guy outside to "sort things out", the atmosphere turned sour for a few minutes but was restored by ransacking the back catalogue once again - this time I Wanna Be Adored came to the rescue.

Disappointingly, the encore was a less than thrilling version of My Star and a repeat performance of that aforementioned Pistols cover seemed a bizarre choice to end on.

He may be frustrating at times but Brown remains one of the key musical figures of his generation.

Now bring on that reunion...



*****
Steve Harnell




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