The Day Indie Died

"Yuh mate, The OverDrone wuz there like. He saw the facking Stone Roses at Spike Island. n' they were crap, like. Facking Crrap." Said The OverDrone, in a faux-Mancunian accent.

The OverDrone was there. Packed onto a bus in the wee hours of the morning for the long trip North.
On arrival we were shuffled off of the bus and into the concert grounds. Hapless youth that The OverDrone was at the time, he did not know that he and twenty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine other fans would be shuffling their feet in toxic dust for the next eight hours.

Lacking the money for a t-shirt (or even a bottle of water), The OverDrone and a friend, one Jody Rogers, survived the fierce heat due to one band, Meat Beat Manifesto, who played for something like three hours, keeping the crowd pacified as they waited for the headliners. The OverDrone cannot find a listing of the opening acts online but there were some excellent DJ's there that day.
By the time the Stone Roses came out the crowd was still in good spirits, but The OverDrone was disappointed. There was none of the give and take of the earlier mixologists. They just played their songs and then it was over. Fool's Gold was of course, monster. The Serpentine beat manages to weave through lyrics straight from Beau Geste. Alright, The OveDrone admits it, it was a pretty good concert. The OverDrone is glad he went, are you happy now?
It's just that, after witnessing the power of a sweet beat firsthand, The OverDrone began the long process of shucking off the husk from the dried corn that was Indie rock. Oh sure, you could dance to it, but at what price?
27 May 1990 Spike Island
Madchester
Stone Roses
Meat Beat Manifesto
Spike Island