Benicassim // Me Tarzan, You Jane

Everyone loves monkeys and their expressive, forever childlike nature, like a drunk, mute midget. The Beatles, The Kinks, even Warren Zevon sang songs about them. This may be why Ian Brown, the monkey-man himself, still holds a soft spot for us, his notoriously limited but iconic voice a constant reminder of his part in possibly the most definitive British album of the last 20 years.

Now in his aged prime, without prelude, he brashly strolls out onto the stage to that bassline, from the opening song from that historical 1989 album, nonchalently demanding, “I wanna be adooooooored”, before seamlessly progressing through the best of his repertoire from his 6 solo albums, without loss of rhythm or his malevolant swagger, for one minute. Time Is My Everything, with its wailing, Eastern-style trumpets was a highlight before the set was brought to a glorious finale with Fool’s Gold. With The Roses or solo, Brown is the star turn, just like Cheeta was in those grainy black and white films.  

Words by Neill Higgins

Photos by Melanie Manneville