Fans of The Stone Roses are speculating this morning about activity from the band after a series of posters carrying the band’s lemon logo appeared around Manchester.
Images of the lemon, which has appeared on the band’s posters and album artwork in the past, have appeared around Manchester with sightings confirmed at Close barber’s shop on Greater Ancoats Street and the Vinyl Revival record store on Hilton Street.
Eagle eyed fans have spotted that there are 16 lemons on each poster and are speculating that this means an announcement about 2016 is imminent. The posters appear in several shops in the Northern Quarter area of the city. One shop keeper told Manchester Evening News that he had been “sworn to secrecy about an announcement due in the next 24 hours”.
PressGordon Smart, editor of the Scottish Sun, has also speculated that two gigs at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium could be in the pipeline. “I’ve felt a disturbance in the force @thestonerosesofficial blue seats, two nights, baggy jeans and a beanie hat…”, he wrote on Instagram.
Manchester musicians Liam Fray (The Courteeners) and Tim Burgess of The Charlatans have also tweeted about the posters, leading some fans to ask if all three bands will play live together. Other persistent rumours include that of a Glastonbury headline slot and the band’s long awaited third album.
NME has approached a representative for The Stone Roses but has not received a reply at the time of writing.
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Noel Gallagher recently suggested that there could soon be renewed activity from the band when he appeared on Sky’s Soccer AM last month.
Appearing on Soccer AM on October 24, the former Oasis guitarist was asked if he had “any idea what’s going on with the Roses”, to which he replied coyly: “Yes. I know exactly what’s going on… They’re blooming.”
The Manchester band reformed in 2011 after originally breaking up in 1996. They played a series of gigs around the world in 2012 and 2013, but have remained inactive for the past two years.
In June 2013, The Stone Roses released the documentary The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone, directed by Shane Meadows. It charted their reformation, triumphant homecoming gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park and beyond.
Pressed on any information about forthcoming Stone Roses material at a charity event last year, Ian Brown remained taciturn. “Is something happening? You never know, but I’m not here to talk about that,” he said.