Conor O' Brien
Early last week, it was reported in the tabloids that the seminal sages of Brit-pop, The Stone Roses, were yet again in danger of reforming. While this would be seen as a glorious second (or even third) coming for many hardcore Roses fans, the truth is that they were never a good live act. Their heavily-produced breakthrough debut album lost its magic on stage and with a singer synonymous with out-of-tune vocal melodies in Ian Brown, the thought of them putting a successful tour together after 15 years seems a bit far-fetched.
Fortunately, all this media-spinning grounded to a halt on Friday when guitarist John Squire stated on the BBC “Newsnight” program that it just wasn’t going to happen. He added that he would prefer to get on with life rather than “attempt to rehash it”. Squire has reinvented himself as an artist as of late and also admitted to having not picked the guitar for quite some time – as well as reiterating the fact that he hasn’t talked to Ian Brown since 1996.
The Daily Mirror newspaper ran the story, and claimed that the Manchester group would play 21 dates in the summer – including a performance at this year’s Coachella Festival. Brown – currently recording his sixth studio album – was reported to have signed “on the dotted line” and the rest of the band were seeing dollar signs.
In reaction to all the speculation, one of Squire’s latest pieces is emblazoned with the statement, “I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of the seminal Manchester pop group, The Stone Roses” and is dated March 18th 2009. So there it is – set in stone and written in art.
Though there is something peculiarly coincidental that this story coincided with the opening of Squire’s new exhibition, as well the eve of their debut’s 20th anniversary, which is due to come out in a new re-mastered edition in June.
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