Concert Date: 21 February 2013 (Thursday)
Venue: Dubai Media City Amphitheatre
Since the time I found out that the Stone Roses had
reunited in 2011 (cheers to the mighty powers behind that!), I’ve been wishing to be able to see them live! (but never really got the chance to fly
to UK that time). So, yeah, how awesome is it that they actually came over to play to Dubai!? Oh heck, it’s just too cool for words, I tell ‘ya! ;p
So, I’ve reached the venue just several minutes before 9pm
and did not really expect to see waaaay too many people already there! Who would’ve thought that The Stone
Roses actually has a big enough following in Dubai? What a nice surprise!- most of them Brits, of course, but still, hard to believe that many
of them are actually here in camel land! LOL... and some of them (like myself) were proudly wearing Stone Roses t-shirts! Alright! :D
Just after entering the gate, I saw a
long-ass queue of peeps blocking my way and I panicked that it
could be for the gen. admission ticket holders (er, like me) and that I would fall to the end of the line, then miss the
first song (if the band goes onstage at that moment, oh no!). What a relief
to find out that it was only for the food/bar! (but I still do feel sorry to those
who had to endure that long queue just to grab some beer. I heard it
went on for about 2 hours, yikes!) The organizers sucked in that department, for sure.
Anyhow, at around 09:20pm or so, the band finally appeared
onstage and kicked it off with “I wanna be Adored”!
Ahhh, I almost died! It felt so amazing watching them live onstage- for the first time! A band I absolutely adore since high school!
Ian Brown gained a bit of weight, thankfully! (I saw him perform in 2009 and he was quite thin, you'd reckon he's ill or on drugs, or something) Oh, I just
love the guy nevertheless! He makes all these crazy poses while singing, it’s cute, teehee!
His voice would go flat once in a
while—no surprise there (esp. when he sang “Made of
Stone” – a favorite of mine, no less), but that didn’t matter… it’s
as if no one noticed! We were all just enjoying the show, singing along and
dancing silly! Even more when they played “Fool’s Gold”- extended version, it was phenomenal! I didn’t want it to end!
*grabbed from TimeOutDubai (with thanks!)
Off the top of my head, they played: I wanna be Adored, Mersey Paradise, Sally Cinnamon, Shoot you
Down, Fool's Gold, Waterfall, Made of Stone, She bangs the Drums, Love Spreads, This is the One, Sugar-spun
Sister, Ten Storey Love Song, Don’t Stop, and I am the Resurrection (last song). Nope, they didn't play "Elephant Stone" :(
I never realized Reni is such an awesome drummer
until that night! Man, he was on fire! One of the best drummers I’ve ever seen! Oozing with energy. Truly amazing.
Mani, on the other hand, was having some real fun playing his uber-cool bass guitars! Check these babies out, whoaah!
John Squire is a certified “shoe-gazer”. I barely caught a glimpse of his face the whole night… He was busy in his own world, engrossed with his brilliant guitar-playing... at times simply facing the back of the stage. (I still love him to bits though! ;p)
* photo taken from TimeOutDubai (with thanks!)
I’m still a little disappointed that there wasn’t an
encore, but, oh well, we can’t have all the luck in the world in one night,
can we? :D
One of the night’s highlights was the
presence of another big Stone Roses fan—Liam Gallagher (Beady Eye/ex-Oasis) sitting in
the VIP lounge and for whom Ian Brown gave some well-deserved props after the song “Shoot you
Down”. Too
bad, he wasn’t caught onscreen though.
After the show, my friend and I wandered about, looking for
Stone Roses posters/placards or whatever, where we could take pictures on… but we didn’t find any! Nothing posted at the entrance nor inside the venue! Instead, what
we saw were glaring posters of Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber! Mehhh! Even the
gate didn't bear the band's name!—all it said were the labels Gen.
Admission/VIP/Front Pit! What’s up with that?
We went for the “Step On” indie night party
just across the street in Media One hotel and by the time we returned, passing the concert venue again, we saw at least 1 trampoline of the Stone Roses! I wonder if anyone else even
noticed it! (or maybe there's a few more at the other side-- outside). Here 'tis:
Anyway, to sum it up, the night was priceless!… I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Unforgettable.
OTHER VIDEOS:
I wanna be Adored-
Sally Cinnamon-
