St Helens band, The Clone Roses will be headlining Manchester’s Heaton Park in 2023.
As the most successful, ambitious, and best-loved tribute to The Stone Roses, The Clone Roses will be marking their own 25th Anniversary in style.
After the runaway success of ‘Spike Island – The Resurrection’ last year – an event that broke records as “the biggest tribute-themed festival the world has ever seen” – The Clone Roses will be taking things to the logical next step as they size-up a huge celebration at Manchester’s stately Heaton Park.
Following in the footsteps of other legendary Manchester acts to have headlined the vast outdoor space including New Order, The Courteeners, Oasis, and of course The Stone Roses; at ‘Heaton Park – The Resurrection’ The Clone Roses will be returning to the scene of their idol’s emphatic 2012 reunion gigs and having a pop themselves.
Taking place on Saturday 13th May 2023, over a decade after the sun set on those incredible comeback shows, the band will be looking to recapture a little of that magic in a special set that will commemorate a huge anniversary milestone of their own.
Speaking about ‘Heaton Park – The Resurrection’ and the 25th Anniversary of The Clone Roses, Gav Scott (AKA “Ian”) says:
“We’ve been wanting to do Heaton Park for ages but it’s such a popular and busy park. When the opportunity finally came, we couldn’t say no! Over the years, we’ve played the Blackpool Empress Ballroom, Spike Island, and now this… it feels like we’ve completed The Stone Roses cycle to a certain degree!”
With all members of The Clones having attended the original Heaton Park event in 2012, fans attending ‘Heaton Park – The Resurrection’ in 2023 can expect a studied duplication of the sights, sounds, threads and tunes that made the original shows so euphoric.
Gav adds:
“We went on the Saturday and it was strange for us as we weren’t really getting into it like everyone else… we were thinking things like “what’s Mani wearing,” “what’s the guitar John is playing,” making notes on setlist! Still loved it mind, and we never got to see them first time round so it was an incredible moment for us… That Roses Heaton Park setlist was all the classic songs you’d hope them to play so I’ve no doubt our show will be very similar to their set in 2012”.
Taking place across three days in 2012, Heaton Park was the destination of The Stone Roses’ official Second Coming (after the fall-out making ‘Second Coming’ in ‘90s). Featuring the classic line up of Ian Brown, John Squire, Reni and Mani, it was the first time its members had performed all together since 1995. With phenomenally high demand for the shows, the Roses sold-out 220,000 tickets in a record breaking 68 minutes, making it the fastest selling rock gig in UK history. Praised by The Guardian as “a storming triumph” and NME as “spectacular”; the shows went down as a momentous moment in The Stone Roses history.
And one in which The Clone Roses will be seeking to replicate in 2023… Speaking about just why people need to come and see The Clone Roses at Heaton Park next year.
Gav Scott states:
“We’d love to celebrate our 25th Anniversary in the City that have been so loyal to us from day one. I think people have accepted that we really put the effort into recreating a Roses show and they are really supportive of what we do. In terms of the day itself, there’s going to be an absolute feast of Manchester music!”
Promising a day of wall-to-wall music from Manchester with love, expect a fitting warm-up for the Clones with appearances from a roster of original scene faces and doppelgangers alike. With DJ sets from the likes of BEZ (Happy Mondays), CLINT BOON (Inspiral Carpets), MC TUNES, MR WILSON’S SECOND LINERS, DJ PETE WALSHE (ex-Pacha) and longstanding friend DJ DAVE SWEETMORE; there will also be live sets from fellow cloners including OAS-IS, THE SMITHS LTD, THE COURTBETWEENERS, HAPPY MONDAZE, and THE JAMES EXPERIENCE.
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