"Manchester vibes in the areeeaaa!" New York DJ Frankie Bones told the bemused crowd at Spike Island. And there were vibes apparently, even if no-one knew exactly what he meant, or what said vibes were. Spike Island was the most unlikely of The Stone Roses' offbeat venues so far. And if that event didn't start the new Summer Of Love, it still enticed 30,000 people to a grassy knoll in the Mersey estuary near Widnes - a feat in itself. Yet Roses fans testify that there was something missing at Spike Island, specifically any speaker volume to make the band sound louder than a wasp in a biscuit tin. Though DJ Bones, Paul Oakenfold and Dave Haslam fought to create the rave atmosphere, the Roses at Spike Island was, essentially, just a band playing in a big field. But if you had your Bloggs flares on and a headful of chemicals, there was nowhere else to be.
MANCS MOUTH ALMIGHTY
"The time….. the time is now. Do it now, do it now."
Ian Brown's only words to the Spike Islanders
"It's double time today, the sun's shining and they seem like nice kids. But why here?"
Policeman on duty at Spike Island
"I'm here because of the Jam MCs. I want to be a dolphin."
Josephine
"I'm here because I like E and my life is dedicated to raving. I don't want the DJs ever to stop."
Jonathan
"The police want us to finish it by eleven, but we're just gonna keep going"
Ian Brown at the preceding press conference. The show was over by 10.30pm
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