A large and striking silkscreen concert poster for The Stone Roses' seminal gig at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England, on Saturday 12th August 1989. Following the release of their eponymous debut album in May 1989, Manchester musicians Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary 'Mani' Mounfield and Alan 'Reni' Wren played more than 30 dates around the UK, culminating in their largest concert to date at Blackpool's Empress Ballroom, a traditional seaside venue which had played host to The Beatles and the Rolling Stones 25 years earlier. The sold out 4,000 capacity show has been described as the ultimate Stone Roses performance, etched into the memories of those who were lucky enough to be there, and put Manchester's music scene on the map. Brown later commented that the Blackpool gig was the moment that he knew the band had truly made it. Record Mirror's review equated the significance of the show with the Beatles’ legendary Shea Stadium concerts, proclaiming These guys are massive. We’re talking near hysteria as the hottest wah wah pedal in town signals ‘Elephant Stone’. ‘Made Of Stone’ is similarly play to near perfection – it’s all done with consummate ease. Hendrix lives! Resurrected in John Squire, he’s an influence much in evidence tonight, and effectively so in a setting of such grandeur. With a setlist including I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs the Drums, Waterfall and I Am the Resurrection, the live performance was immortalised in the 1991 video release Blackpool Live, capturing a band on the cusp of superstardom.

Provenance

Very good (B+)

Unfolded, not backed. Five soft partial horizontal folds. Handling wear and creasing to margins and one small ½in. tear to lower edge. Some light unobtrusive creases through image. Overall super condition for a poster of this size. The poster could be linen backed on request, but in our opinion the soft wavy folds would  be sufficiently flattened out by framing.