An act of understudys at Orkney Bands

An act of understudys

Published by Matthias August 1st, 2006 in Side Column.

With a reputation as one of the best tribute acts around, and the rare cachet of a sold-out Fusion the last time they were up, note-perfect nostalgists The Stone Roses Experience graced the club last Friday.

The lack of a support band was disappointing, but it was nice to hear a varied selection of tracks like A Minha Menina by Os Mutantes on the stereo to get in the mood before the show.

Taking to the stage, The Stone Roses Experience are the height of professionalism. Like a broadway show, this is an act they have fine tuned over hundreds of performances. Billing themselves as the “most precise�? tribute around, they live up to the claim right from the start: the songs sound just like they do on the CD.

Anybody will tell you on seeing their favourite band how unique the live performance was and how eager they are to go back and see them again. This is because we hear so many polished sounds that our ears begin to reject them and we subconsciously embrace the imperfections.

This is what’s missing tonight - The Stone Roses Experience are a tribute to the back-catalogue rather than the band. They play seminal hits like ‘She Bangs The Drums’, ‘I Am The Resurrection’ and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ with note-perfect clarity, but the atmosphere just isn’t there. Singer Alan Marshall is a man of few words, muttering “we’re not about dressing up like them and all that, we just play the songs�? in his broad Scottish accent, but there is more to a gig than just hearing the notes being played.

1 Response to “An act of understudys”

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1 Ian Aug 5th, 2006 at 10:29 am

A dissapointmet, although I would of liked to of seem them. Very good review though Matthias.

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