Event Reviews

I say “resurgent”, more like “promotional”, as the alternative house legends played more tracks from their good-but-not-quite-Pills-n-Thrills-and-Bellyaches new album Uncle Dysfunktional than their army of once-ravers would have preferred.

The surprisingly alive Shaun Ryder still held himself well as frontman of the band, and although lacking a little rapport with the crowd, in just uttering “nice one” at the end of each beat-laden number, it was just enough for the slightly-slimmed down lyricist to get by.

He did show a little wit of old though, when, after introducing everyone in his band, he declared “and I know who I am… just about!”

Onto the music, the Mondays still played all of the classics, and despite leaving die hard fans a tad disappointed with the contemporary material on show, there was just enough old stuff to keep everyone happy.

Opener Kinky Afro instantly sent everyone hurtling back in time before other legendary hits of old Loose Fit and the iconic Step On evoked most people’s nostalgic memories of their early 90s house adoration.

Surprising

The surprising inclusion of Reverend Black Grape into the set list sent the many flagrant smoking-ban abusers in the crowd wild, whilst 24-Hour party people was a poignant reminder of Tony Wilson – the man who discovered the band at the Hacienda all those years ago.

Happy Mondays back in the day

Newcomers would be forgiven for thinking they’d only ever released 2 albums though – as the bulk of the evening’s material came from the aforementioned Pills-n-Thrills-and-Bellyaches and Uncle Dysfunktional.

New tracks Jellybean, Rats with Wings and Rush Rush all carry the Mondays sound into the 21st Century with surprising ease, although it’s perhaps more of a relief to see the band in the 21st Century before we can appreciate their new offerings.

On the whole, their performance was satisfactory, but then the band is only just warming up for European dates in November in France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.

Happy travels Happy Mondays.