From: "Gavin Jones" <****@mercury.wesley.OZ.AU>
To: roses-list@blob.best.net
Date:          Fri, 6 Oct 1995 10:02:42 GMT+1000
Subject: ROSES: Melbourne show 05/10/1995

The concert last night at 'The Metro' in Melbourne was excellent. The band were in very good form musically. Ian's voice was a bit flat in the first couple of songs but after that he was fine although at times he couldn't be heard due to the sound mix. They stayed on stage for about 90 minutes in all, including one encore - "I am the resurrection'. The mix was a bit muddy which meant that the sound didn't have the glorious clarity that their records have. This muddiness did not help the band when they played tracks off the second album. It made them sound fairly similar (except for the acoustic numbers of course) whereas the 5 songs they played off the first album were easy to pick apart as they are quite varied in sound and feel.

The crowd was good -half dancing -half moshing. Although there were a number in their Manchester get-ups, there was a very high 'Aussie' content and most of the crowd readily identified the songs. Hopefully this surprisingly (the second album did not do very big things here) large supporter base might bring them back here. One can only hope.

Overall an excellent gig - the band were not very animated which was a bit disappointing (That's the Manchester thing folks) but they played very, very tight and any mistakes made were not noticed by anyone except that John's guitar was a bit out of tune on the song before 'Sister's my Messiah'. Only one word was spoken for the whole night, that being "Melbourne". Doesn't Ian have a way with words. Nearly as good as his costume change - putting a jacket on for the last couple of songs - I would have thought that he would have been hotter rather than beginning to catch a chill. Anyway, I'll definitely be trying to get some tickets for Wembley on the 29/12. To use an Australian rock music cliche - "do yourself a favour...."

From: ******@colybrand.com.au
Date: Sat, 07 Oct 95 03:16:06
To: thompson@best.com
Subject: Stone Roses in Melbourne

The Stone Roses at the Melbourne Metro - 5 October 1995

I've been to a few gigs at the Metro before (last one being Primal Scream) but I've never seen it like this before. It was always going to be a huge gig - what with tickets being sold out for almost 2 weeks - but the amount of people they jammed into that place was unbelievable.

Spiderbait put in a solid support, getting on at 9.15pm and playing for about an 45 minutes. A more "suitable" choice of support would have probably satisfied the punters more, but in the end we were all there to see one band.

Between Spiderbait and The Stone Roses the DJ played a mix of indie tracks. The crowd was getting right into tracks like Live Forever and Hallelujah... The next hour felt like an eternity. The Stone Roses had promised to tour Australia when they released their debut album, and finally after all these years, we were only one hour away.

They hit the stage a bit after 11pm, Robbie coming to the front and saluting the crowd first.

The big question in my mind was whether they would live up to their expectations. Its not often that a band comes down to play with such a huge reputation and so much to live up to... Well it only took a few minutes of their first track, "Adored", to confirm that the Stone Roses are every bit as relevant in 1995 as they were in 1989. By the next track "She Bangs the Drum" there was no doubt in my mind, The Stone Roses remain one of the most important bands of our era.

The track listing held no surprises (and as for whether they played Fools Gold, either way it doesn't really matter). There were so many highlights to the show that's its difficult to know where to start. "Adored" and "She Bangs the Drum" were very impressive. The acoustic set was also very well done - especially "Tears" which provided an effective seg between the acoustic and electric part of the show.

The Stone Roses obviously like playing LOUD - this being one of the loudest gigs I've been to. The lighting was very well done and added alot to the show.

As for whether Ian Brown's vocals were up to scratch (it seems everyone wants to know the answer to this question). I'm not too sure what the fuss is all about, I thought Ian was in good form. If you want to here singers with impressive voices go to the opera.

John Squire is a guitar god (and acts like one!) - enough said.

As for Mani and Robbie, they put in a flawless performance. They also added a bit of light to the gig - as they seemed to take things less seriously than Ian and John.

The crowd definitely reacted better to the early tracks. A crowd favourite being "Made of Stone". Alot of the new stuff didn't get the same ecstatic reaction, but was nonetheless well received.

The show ended with "I am the Resurrection" as the encore. In my opinion this is their best song, and a fitting way to end an experience I wont forget for a very long time.

We want another encore!

Cheers

Alex

Date: Sat, 7 Oct 1995 19:55:20 -0700
From: ***@melbpc.org.au (Beth)

I saw the Stone Roses on the 5th of October at the Metro. They were quite unbelievably good, although Ian Brown is a poser of few words and John Squire is having a John leenon phase. In general I was totally impressed. Indeed.

Beth (****@melbpc.org.au)

Melbourne, V Australia - Saturday, October 07, 1995 at 19:55:07 (PDT)

From: ****@netspace.net.au (Georgia Harvey)
Newsgroups: alt.music.stone-roses
Subject: CONCERT IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Date: 5 Oct 1995 23:21:59 GMT

Hi there all. Just like to say that I saw this concert last night (5/10/95) and it was fucking excellent!

It is the first time they have been to Australia, and about time I must say.

Raven...

***@netspace.net.au