Dodgy, The Stone Roses and the reunion rollercoaster

by the way.... this is Math, drummer with Dodgy and a few people have enquired as to why I've started to sport facial hair and my answer is simple - I'm playing to my strengths. I'm not tall, I'm not slim but I have the power to grow a beard to Brian Blessed proportions.... which brings me nicely on to The Stone Roses...
already a lot has been written and said about this but The Roses are one of THE most important bands both to us as fans and being in a band... the rumours began on Friday and all weekend I was texting some good friends who I know are massive Roses fans, like Jo who I play with in the Yellow Moon Band, who founded and runs the Green Man Festival and who by her own admission is like a giddy teenager again over The Roses news, our ex-manager who claims that The Stone Roses at Blackpool Empress Ballroom was the best gig of his life, and Mark Morriss, who actually hadn't heard until I told him and indeed the irony of The Bluetones going their separate ways as the Roses reunite, was not lost on him.
It's fair to say that The Stone Roses had an influence over most of the major UK bands in the 90's - certainly Oasis, The Charlatans and The Verve wouldn't exist without them but also Blur (listen to 'She's So High') Radiohead, Muse, Prodigy, Pulp, Supergrass and er.. Dodgy would all acknowledge them as a major influence.

Obviously the announcement resonates with our situation. Personally, I'm not sure about the word 'reforming', it always sounds like such a big statement; the fact is, as a band, if you gain any kind of success, you find yourselves on a roller coaster which doesn't stop after one circuit but continues round and round and round until after a while you just want to get off. Doesn't mean that you won't want to get back on at a later point, just that at that moment you want to step off for a breather.
We went through quite a lot of line-ups and band names (ask and we'll tell) before we finally found the chemistry that was the three of us as Dodgy, and having spent a bit of time apart you appreciate more that there's something special about that chemistry. At the Stone Rose press conference, when (man of few words) John Squire said it was not just a band getting back together but best friends burying the hatchet, we thought "blimey, that's us". Talking about him and Ian Brown he said "I think in some ways it's a friendship that defines us both" and the same applies to all three of us in our case. The Roses got back together after Mani's mum's funeral, for us it was the sad loss of lighting fella and good friend Andy Moore, for all of us it's a case of life's too short, so here we are.....

Some people are saying that they are worried it will be shite and they don't want to be disappointed but that's fine, no one's forcing you to buy a ticket or think about it more than you want to... in fact the Roses have already disappointed many with the debacle of Reading 96 (we were there) and some of the shockers off Second Coming (Straight To The Man - er....no) so I know they've made howling (literally) mistakes but we STILL LOVE THEM and have memories of a gig in Pilton (September 1st 1995) where Dodgy were the named 'headliners' and they were the special guests ... .and that is why, Friday morning 9.30am we'll be on the phone trying to buy a ticket.... and while we're waiting, if enough of you request it, then I'll trot out my story again, of how little old Mathew from Dodgy christened Ian Brown, 'King Monkey'.....

So till next time, feel free to keep spreading the word about Dodgy, with your help we can start making things better.
As Ian Brown said at the press conference - "for positive thinkers everywhere"