October saw the DVD release of Shane Meadows’ Stone Roses documentary Made of Stone. As well as celebrating the resurrection of one of Manchester’s finest musical exports, the project saw a coming together of my favourite band and one of my favourite filmmakers. A potentially heavenly combination.
Meadows, who shot to fame with the brilliant This is England, also has another couple of superbly gritty films under his belt in A Room For Romeo Brass and Dead Man’s Shoes. I can safely say this one isn’t in the same vein. What it is, is more of a love letter from an ardent music fan.
Made of Stone comprises three acts. The first being the free gig the Roses laid on for their fans in Warrington to mark their come back, the second being their problematic European tour that saw drummer Reni storm off the stage in Amsterdam and the third being that wonderful summer performance at Heaton Park a few weeks later in front of 75,000 elated fans.
Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown invited the filmmaker to cover the band’s press conference in which they announced their triumphant return. The film was born as a result. Despite Meadows being of an age to attend the Roses’ legendary 1990 show at Spike Island, he missed it due to having taken a bad acid trip the night before and subsequently lost his ticket.
The shot at redemption after years of the four-piece snubbing opportunities to reform comes across as a massive relief to the filmmaker as he is afforded access all areas for the duration of their tour. You can tell how much he loves the band as he switches off the cameras during the turbulent Amsterdam gig to avoid heightening tensions further.
The highlight for me is when Meadows gets to sit through a private rehearsal. The band’s beautiful number Waterfall is played out in its entirety and, in intimate surrounds, we get to see what’s truly at the heart of The Stone Roses: four excellent musicians. In 20 years they’ve not lost it.
Being too young to see them in the mid nineties, I too felt the buzz of the second chance that the Heaton Park show afforded us. It was an incredible night that was played out rather predictably in the north Manchester rain. Watching this documentary just over a year later felt like the perfect souvenir. Get it watched.
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