What did The Stone Roses play at Reading Festival 1996?

25 August 2026, 16:00

30 years ago, the original run of The Stone Roses came to an underwhelming end when the band - minus John Squire and Reni - headlined Reading Festival. But which songs did they play?

“Don't be sad it's over, be happy that it happened.”

With those words, Ian Brown appeared to call time on The Stone Roses’ career at the final show of their long-awaited reunion tour, which took place at Glasgow's Hampden Park on 24th June 2017. And, with the death of bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield in November 2025, the era of the Roses is definitely over.

When the group announced they were to reunite for shows in 2012, it seemed like a dream come true for fans - particularly as the band had ground to a halt in the summer of 1996 with bad feeling between members.

In March 1995, just three months after the long-awaited release of their follow-up album The Second Coming, drummer Alan "Reni" Wren announced he was quitting The Stone Roses. According to guitarist John Squire, the lack of proper management and the stress of removing themselves from their old contract with the Silvertone label had pushed the Roses to breaking point. When it was suggested that the group employ Doug Goldstein, who was then managing Guns N' Roses, there was a row between Reni and frontman Ian Brown.

"The making of the second album finished the band off in a way," Squire told Dave Haslam during an interview on XFM in June 2007. "[Ian] came to me and Mani and said that Reni had quit the night after this big row. This was a couple of weeks before the tour was due to start. I could see in Ian's eyes there was no turning back from that point. That was really the last nail in the coffin for the band. It was never the same after that moment. I realised I was facing a choice in a way: I could either do the tour without the drummer or without the singer. It was no contest."

The Second Coming tour went ahead with Robbie Maddix on drums, but the band were living on borrowed time. A headline slot at Glastonbury in June 1995 was cancelled when Squire broke his collarbone and shoulder in a mountain biking accident, leaving Pulp to fill in.

The Stone Roses ended 1995 with a huge show at London's Wembley Arena - but it would be Squire's last appearance with the band for 17 years. He officially left the band on 1st April 1996, issuing a statement claiming that his departure was "the inevitable conclusion to the gradual social and musical separation that we have undergone in the past few years". The Roses limped on for another four months with Aziz Ibrahim on guitar before throwing in the towel after headlining Reading Festival on 25th August 1996. Squire said later: "I didn't see any future in it, other than a kind of treadmill trading on the past. It didn't fire me with any sort of creative enthusiasm."

So, what did the Roses play at their last show in 16 years?

The Stone Roses Reading Festival setlist 25th August 1996

I Wanna Be Adored

The obvious opening track - the first song on the band's classic debut The Stone Roses, from 1989.

She Bangs the Drums

The joyous single from the Stone Roses' self-title debut album, released as a single in July 1989.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 02 She Bangs The Drums

Waterfall

A classic track from the debut album, issued as a single long after the fact in December 1991.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 03 Waterfall

High Time

A true rarity - a Stone Roses song that was never released as a studio cut.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 04 High Time

Made of Stone

Another single from the debut album which first charted in March 1989.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 08 Made of Stone

Ten Storey Love Song

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 05 Ten Storey Love Song

Daybreak

Two more tracks from The Second Coming.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 06 Daybreak

Love Spreads

The big “comeback” single of 1994.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 07 Love Spreads

Breaking into Heaven

The opening track from the long-awaited album The Second Coming.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 11 Breaking Into Heaven

Ice Cold Cube

Premiered at this final Stone Roses show was a song that would later appear on Ian Brown's debut solo album, Unfinished Monkey Business (February 1998).

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 10 Ice Cold Cube

I Am the Resurrection

The last track on the Roses' debut album - but not the finale of Reading 1996.

STONE ROSES - Reading 1996 TV Version - 09 I Am The Resurrection

Driving South

The Roses' last live performance for sixteen years was the second track from the album The Second Coming.