Ian Brown @ Corn Exchange

Ten years on from The Stone Roses' implosion and while axe-master Squire most likely whiles away his time strumming an acoustic guitar watching The Jeremy Kyle Show, Brown is busy selling out venues like the Corn Exchange on a regular basis. Who'd have thunk it? Such is the self-proclaimed shaman's confidence that at one stage tonight he even tries his hand at an ill-advised drum solo during the mid-session interval. His drumming proves no worse than his singing however; a unique "style" best described as braying into a bucket. The quality of Brown's solo output has always been a hit-and-miss affair, and tonight is, you could say, a gig of two halves. For a man held in such reverence there is a surprisingly considerable drift to the bar during a fairly lacklustre first half dominated by tunes from a new album most of the crowd are as yet unfamiliar with. Nevertheless a stirring second half saves the day, with a highly charged My Star and the cheebah-tastic funk of Golden Gaze upping the ante, so that by the time a bagpiper comes on to play Flower of Scotland and old 'Roses classics I Am The Resurrection and I Wanna Be Adored have been dispatched, everybody's faith in the magic of King Monkey has been well and truly reasserted. (Barry Jackson)