Ian Brown bewilders fans as he struggles to sing in tune during ‘flat and shameful’ gig in Manchester – after being slammed for performing with a backing track

Those familiar with The Stone Roses and their cultural influence on late ’80s British music may have had difficulty recognizing the lone figure performing without an accompanying band in Manchester on Saturday night.

Thirty-three years after entertaining 28,000 adoring fans on Spike Island, Ian Brown took to the stage alone at local nightclub Warehouse Project, where a less fanatical audience watched him struggle to sing in tune.

In footage posted to social media, Brown, 60 – one of the evening’s many special guests – appeared to falter while performing his 2001 solo single FEAR.

In the absence of a live band, the star perplexed audiences by singing along to the backing track, but his characteristically raspy vocals became dangerously out of tune as the song reached its climax.

Shortly after, while discussing Brown’s shaky performance on X (formerly Twitter), those in attendance were divided over the singer’s vocals, with some calling the performance “karaoke.”

“Please, please, please don’t ever ask Ian Brown to play again. Oh, what a shame,” wrote one disappointed fan.

A second added: “His voice has deteriorated somewhat. He didn’t really get the crowd going, no interaction. It’s just very flat, I only watched 10 minutes – that was enough.

“Oldboy is a legend, but it’s no secret that he’s absolutely not live. I wore pants to the Etihad a few years ago,” wrote a third.

And a fourth asked: “Who else saw Ian Brown at WHP last night?” I heard from several people that he was absolutely crap. True?’

Others were quick to praise Brown, who shared a photo backstage with former Happy Mondays backing singer Rowetta at the event.

Commenting on the photo, one fan wrote: “He looked unreal in some photo on Saturday night.”

And a second added: “Funny enough, I just posted FEAR here, I loved it!”

The performance comes after Brown suffered a wave of backlash after performing in Leeds last September, which fans called a “karaoke show”.

The Stone Roses star was criticized when he took to the 02 Academy stage without an orchestra and sang only to a backing track.

Writing that he had “completely lost the plot”, fans were furious, paying up to £50 for tickets to the sold-out show which kicked off his UK tour.

“Very upset to see @ianbrown got tickets for £40 a ticket, sold out gig in Leeds tonight WITHOUT A BAND. I’m a long time fan, but this was bad. #ianbrown doing karaoke and cutting up his own tunes,” one fan tweeted.

And another wrote: “This is not live music. So the closest description to it is karaoke.”

“I’m a big fan of his but this is terrible,” another wrote as video of the concert went viral on social media.

This is not the first time Brown has caused an uproar among fans after quitting his headlining position at the 2021 Neighborhood Weekender Festival in Warrington.

On Twitter at the time, the rocker, who has posted anti-mask and anti-lockdown tweets during the pandemic and also recorded a track to protest the lockdown, explained that he would not be following any vaccine passport rules.

“My Saturday night show at the NHBD Weekender Festival will no longer happen!” I refuse to accept proof of vaccination as a condition of entry. Returns are possible! X’

Ian rose to fame as the frontman of The Stone Roses alongside guitarist John Squire, bassist Money and drummer Reni, forming the band in 1983 in Manchester and releasing their iconic self-titled debut album six years later.

After a legal battle with their label, the band returned with a second album, Second Coming, in 1994, before splitting in 1996.

Brown has enjoyed a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums to critical acclaim and winning numerous awards.