Brown, Ian - Warrington Parr Hall

11:41am Tuesday 18th December 2007

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MADCHESTER icon Ian Brown made his long-awaited return to play in his home town when he headlined Warrington's Parr Hall on Saturday.

And the Warrington-born former Stone Roses frontman said there was nowhere he would rather be.

“A lot of people associate me with Manchester, but I was keen to get Warrington on the map.”

Ian Brown

"I've always wanted to come back here because it's where I'm from and all my family is still here," he said. "A lot of people associate me with Manchester, but I was keen to get Warrington on the map."

The 44-year-old, who now lives just outside the town, descended on Warrington amid a 24-date UK tour, which takes in both cities and smaller towns.

"The easy route would have been to just concentrate on doing the cities," he said, "but it's important to try to reach as many people as possible.

"A lot of bands move on from the smaller places the bigger they get, but I wanted to give the smaller places a chance."

Brown, who sported a Warrington Wolves shirt for much of the show, pulled out all the stops to wow the town's Indie fraternity, who packed into the sold-out Parr Hall, with a selection of Roses classics such as I Am The Resurrection and hits past and present from his solo back catalogue.

And despite a much-publicised fallout with former songwriting partner and boyhood friend John Squire, Brown admitted his love for the Roses has never dimmed.

"I have no regrets," he declared. "I went from spending five years on the dole to travelling around the world twice. How can I have regrets about that?"

The gig saw fellow Indie darling and former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke drafted in to play on a number of tracks to the delight of the adoring masses.

The collaboration typifies Brown's fifth album The World Is Yours, which sees several big names including Sinead O'Connor, who contributes to his latest single Illegal Attacks, Sex Pistol Steve Jones and Happy Mondays drummer Paul Ryder adding to the mix.

"They were just friends of mine and I thought they would work on a few of the songs," he said. "It was cool to get them involved and it worked out alright."

The World Is Yours, which hit the shops last month, typifies Brown's eclectic mix of genres to conjure up a fresh take on what he perceives pop music to be.

"I always try to be original," he said. "That's what keeps me going. You have to keep trying new things and mixing it up or you just end up stale and doing it for the wrong reasons."

However, Brown admitted he struggled to understand what has kept him at the fore of the music industry for almost two decades.

He said: "I haven't a clue to be honest. I have tried to work it out before, but I really couldn't say. The best thing to do is just remain true to yourself and the rest will sort itself out."