The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses return triumphant and Manchester parties like it's 1989

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For a few of us who, misty-eyed, remember the times when the Roses helped to make Manchester the music capital of England, there is a sense both of vindication and unease about this flashback to the halcyon days when life was all about looking forward.

"The past was yours, but the future's mine," sang Ian Brown. But walking around Manchester it's evident that this is about far more than nostalgia. There are, predictably, plenty of old ravers who, despite the middle-age spread, are still trying to perfect that swaggering simian stroll that Brown copyrighted. But there are also plenty of fans young enough to be their kids. Absence has made the public's heart grow even fonder.

Round the corner from Vinyl Revival, on the ground floor of Affleck's Palace, there used to be a shop called Identity. It was run by Leo Stanley, who sold Ian Brown his first flares and, as the city began to feel impossibly full of itself, designed a T-shirt that read "On the sixth day, God created Manchester".

"You can feel the unity," Leo told me on Friday afternoon. "The next generation is feeling it now. What a fantastic tribute to a band to be able to reach across generations. It's like 1989 again."

It's not like 1989 again, but the mood across the city is undeniably infectious.