Ian Brown Newcastle City Hall 14 Dec 2009
Laura and I arrived pretty early to an empty City Hall. We were a bit worried at first that no-one was turning out to see Ian Brown on such a cold wet night. We needn’t have been concerned; all of the Ian Brown fans must have been in the City Hall bar and the local pub, as the hall was packed by the time the god-like genius took to the stage.
A DJ warmed us up with some great 60s music: Love, Terry Reid, Hendrix, Northern Soul; pretty cool stuff.
First up were the Shoks who played to a pretty deserted hall; but were OK and went down well with those who were there watching them. Then after a short break the main man took to the stage.
This was only the second time we had seen Ian, the first being in the Newcastle Academy a year or so ago. If anything he was on better form at the City Hall. He connects with the crowd in a way that no-one I have seen does. Lots of great patter and joking with the crowd, and he succeeded in getting us all to join in with his dance moves; seeing the crowd all doing shoulder shuffles (you have be there to understand) is something else.
The set was all pretty new to me; Laura seemed to know most of the songs. She remains fascinated by one of his new songs “Stellify” which is a great track and has the line “Ribbon in the sky” in it. Laura and I went to see Stevie Wonder last year in Manchester and Ian was sitting a couple of rows away from us. At the show Stevie got us all to sing along to a song which had the lyric “There’s a Ribbon in the Sky”. Soon after Ian must have written Stellify; influenced by the Stevie song. So seeing him sing it has a particular connection for Laura and me. The only Stone Roses track was Fools Gold which was one of the encores.
I can see a blend of influences within Ian’s music: 60s, northern soul, dance, psychedelia; they are all thre in varying degrees. And the guy himself is ultra-cool and seems on top of it all. A great night; Laura and I vowed to go and see him every time he comes to the North East.
Setlist: (something like):
Love Like A Fountain
Golden Gaze
Time Is My Everything
All Ablaze
Longsight M13
Keep What Ya Got
Save Us
Crowning Of The Poor
Corpses
Laugh Now
Vanity Kills
Own Brain
Marathon Man
Sister Rose
F.E.A.R.
Encores:
Fools Gold
Stellify
Just Like You
Website Ian Brown: http://www.ianbrown.co.uk/
Website The Shoks: http://www.myspace.com/theshoks
ticket
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by dumbguy on July 4, 2010 at 1:46 pm
RE: “Ribbon in the sky” lyric – See Stone Roses “Tightrope”