Happy Mondays
I never saw Happy Mondays back in the day, but on this, their third visit to Norwich in recent years I was once again convinced that they are undoubtedly playing better now than they ever would have done back then. Dispensing with the need for a support band, this time the Mondays had Jon DaSilva in tow as warm up. Jon used to be a resident DJ at the Hacienda, and listening to his selections brought back some very happy, warm and fuzzy memories indeed. Muscular house was the order of the day and it’s always a joy to hear it pumped out of a large PA. The crowd didn’t exactly lose their minds, but safe to say it was the perfect way to prepare for the main event.
This current tour is being billed as a 30th anniversary greatest hits tour, the Mondays’ debut album having been released in 1987. Previously they’ve played the Bummed & Pills ‘n’ Thrills albums in full, so it seems that they like a hook to hang a tour on, although I’m not sure this is strictly necessary as the audience size has been much the same all three times I’ve seen them. Of the fourteen songs played, half are taken from Pills ‘n’ Thrills, just in case anyone was in any doubt as to which is their best record. Having only released one album since 1992, this was very much a night for looking back for the majority of the crowd out for their one gig this year. It’s striking just how good the band are live – Paul Ryder, Gaz Whelan, Paul Davis and Mark Day may be anonymous on stage, but boy can they all play, Mark Day being especially impressive on guitar. Not that this is a precise run through of the hits, the band sound massive, organic and downright epic at times – a proper rock ‘n’ roll band. Early cuts like 24 Hour Party People, Clap Your Hands and Rave On sound so ahead of their time I’m not sure we’ve caught up with them yet. HalleluJAH is a highlight of the whole show, with Holiday also blowing me away. Even Judge Fudge off the notorious Yes Please album sounded great.
What the Mondays are really about though are the three people up front – Rowetta looks like she’s having a great time and her voice is as powerful as it always was. Bez is still just Bez – older, greyer, paunchier (aren’t we all?) but still hilarious and still has everyone cheering, clapping and waving whenever he comes anywhere near us. Shaun Ryder remains one of the coolest human beings alive without actually doing much. Lurking towards the back of the stage, grinning, swearing and holding down his vocals he is a magnetic stage presence and let’s not forget lyrically he is in a class of his own.
It was a night where everyone seemed to be getting an early start on the weekend, the whole crowd totally into dancing and singing along. Step On got the biggest reaction of course and they returned to play their finest hour Wrote For Luck. This remains my only slight issue with the Mondays live experience – such a great song deserves the greatest respect, but we get the standard short version when what we really want is an extended jam over the repetitive beat that goes on for…much longer please.
It’s certainly not the longest headline set you’ll ever see, but it felt completely satisfying. Their discography may be slender, but when you’ve released one of the best albums ever who cares? As long as they manage to find reasons to justify a tour and another stop in Norwich, I’ll be there.
