It doesn’t seem to matter of the calibre or scale of the act, but when bands reform, there’s always going to be tension.
Best illustrating the point are the recently reformed Stone Roses, whose entire reunion world tour is in question after a gig in Amsterdam last Tuesday came to a confusing finish.
The BBC reports that fans were left puzzled and bemused when the original line-up of frontman Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani and drummer Reni failed to play an expected encore at Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, amid reports that Reni had left the venue after tech issues with his kit.
The crowd were waiting patiently for the expected encore of ‘I Am The Resurrection’ when Brown appeared before the audience, telling them that “the drummer’s gone home… I’m not joking.”
The singer’s announcement was met with a tirade of booing, before the cocky 49-year-old jeered the crowd to vent on him, “get all your aggro out on me, I can take it.” Before adding, “what can I say? The drummer’s a cunt.”
A BBC speculated that Alan ‘Reni’ Wren was having problems with the drumkit throughout the performance, stating “at one point I saw Reni waving his arms wildly at the stage mixer, obviously not happy with something.”
Unconfirmed rumours have been circulating that Reni stormed off after the main set due to the technical issues, but other sources close to the band have rebuffed those comments saying that he and guitarist John Squire had hugged before Reni departed the concert.
Given the reports that the performance was solid, why then, did Brown feel the need to come out and speak to the crowd and curse Reni? Particularly given the band seemed to be encouraging an encore before they left the stage, telling fans, “if you want us to come back, we’re going up four storeys, so you have to cheer loud.”
The events of the Amsterdam show puts a question mark over the remaining dates of the reformed Roses’ first tour together in 16 years, which began in Barcelona, Spain last weekend. The Manchester quartet’s tour commitments are, according to industry rumours, to include a headline spot at next year’s Future Music Festival.
That’s if they ever get that far…
To say that the Stone Roses’ reunion was highly anticipated is a bit of an understatement, with rumours of their reformation being a regular occurrence over the last 16 years since their far from amicable split.
The main sticking point in any reformation has been the bitter falling out between singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire who quit the band in 1995 following their less-than-stellar performance headlining the Reading Festival in 1996. As recently as two years ago, rumours abounded that the band would reunite to mark the 20th occasion of their stunning eponymous debut. That was knocked on the head when John Squire released a photo of one of his artworks which bore the sentence “I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses.”
As recently as June last year, Squire had slammed the thought of any potential reunion, telling a magazine at the time, “when it’s just a get-together for a big payday and everyone gets their old clothes out, that seems tragic to me.”
He ended up eating his words however, when the band eventually got back together last October, following a catalyst meeting between Squire, Brown and Mani at the funeral of the latter’s mother.
Take a look at footage of Brown’s post-concert spiel below while you decide for yourself:
