Happy Mondays
The Governor Hindmarsh
6th September 2026
The firm are out in force. It’s a sold out Sunday for the first and finest* proponents of Madchester, the Happy-Fooking-Mondays.
The Gov is filling out nicely by the time Thunder Speaks take the stage. With their gear lined up to the very front of stage, it’s a forest of mic stands, amps and synth racks, leaving only a tiny patch for the band to put down what we’ll be picking up.
Finding a suitable local support for the Mondays sounds like a big ask, but the psych heavy, bass-rooted swirl of these guys seems like a pretty good match. There’s Xtrmntr era Primal Scream and plenty of ‘Mantra of the cosmos’ vibes at play.
Their bass player Ant is holding down the ‘90s end of the Manchester look. 3 stripes top to toe and a solid groove. The crowd is here for one band, but as a gee up before the big game, Thunder Speaks make the right sounds.
And on the seventh day, God made the Happy Mondays.
Backed by sampled radio and ‘60s movie dialogue, floating on like a Gospel vision in leather, Rowetta, the vocal lynchpin of the band descends to herald the arrival of Manchester’s seminal heads of baggy.
The woman can sing, and 36 years since first joining she makes this look and sound so easy, belting shimmering layers of harmony as the boys saunter onstage to fire up with a loose jam that could have run under the title of any great Shaft flick.
And then, the voice. The voice of Shaun William Ryder, the voice of Madchester.
He’s still offstage, effing and blinding, rolling on with a water bottle in hand.
We’re on. It’s time to celebrate 35 years since the birth of ‘Thrills, Pills & Bellyaches’.
Recorded in LA at the height of their fame and notoriety, the album condensed the shambolic genius of this bunch of Mancunian blaggers, producing some of the most well loved and executed tracks of their career. ‘Kinky Afro’ leads us in with its “Yippee-yippee-yi-yi-yi-yay-yay” chorus and rolling bassline. Absolut Party Starter.
If you’re not aware of Mark ‘Bez’ Berry, look him up. Self styled ‘Freaky Dancer’ he’s been with the band since the start. Wide eyed and gurning with maracas in hand, his job is ‘vibes’ and there’s not a minute where he’s not moving, dancing, throwing Christ poses on the foldbacks. For a band with a lead singer as iconic as Shaun Ryder, Bez makes an excellent frontman.
“Where are we?” asks Ryder, and it appears to be a genuine question “I fooking know where we are, but I forgot?”
“ADELAIDE” calls back the crowd.
Bez grabs the microphone “We’re in AUSTRALIA”
Ryder offers, in way of explanation “Well, you get home, get on a plane, go do a fooking show”
‘Gods Cop’ just reinforces how good a dance album this is. Gary Whelan is in the pocket on the kit at all times, he’s a founding member and played in the same circles as ‘Reni’ of the Stone Roses, both refining and perfecting the jazz/funk/303/electro rhythms drawn from Northern Soul. The shared DNA with the Roses shows itself in the slide guitar and confidence. Imagine what a proper night out the Hacienda was in 88.
‘Donovan’ sounds like a dedication to every hippy that preceded the acid-fuelled evolution. But Happy Monday’s connection with the ‘60s singer is a story in itself. The band even attempted to kidnap him for a night of clubbing, but ultimately lifted a sample from ‘Sunshine Superman’ for this one.
Ryder forgets that we’re working through ‘Thrills & Pills’ when he asks what’s next…“Good thing I’ve got it on fooking autocue” (he’s not joking).
The Mondays were always the loose units of Madchester. None of the beautifully uptight misery of The Smiths, no declarations of world domination like the Roses and Oasis, they were genuinely turning the frustration of the dole and darkness into a neon landscape of hallucinogenic rambling. Ryder could be singing every word, or making this up as he goes. The band, though, they’re locked into every loop, fill and bass run.
“When we did this we got banned from top of the pops, and thirty odd years later, we’re still on a loop. We fooking love that shite”. Cue ‘Loose Fit’
It comes on with more than a hint of where Massive Attack would take rolling basslines and compressed beats. But it’s when the guitars kick in that the song resolves and the crowd syncs. Alabama 3’s ‘Woke Up This Morning’ became an icon when it soundtracked the Soprano’s, and it’s a wonder that more credit didn’t go to the Mondays considering the obvious inspirations.
Linking the lineage between the soaring tones of Merry Clayton (Rolling Stones) and Shara Nelson (Massive Attack), Rowetta’s vocals offer life and form to the rough Ryder.
Keep in mind, that as the band have rolled through the tracks, Bez has not stopped once. He’s covered in sweat head to toe, raising cheers every time he stands in Moses pose, parting the seething mass on the barrier. Vibes man.
There’s a couple of points where Ryder knows his limitations (“I’ve got to try and sing on this one”??) but the character of the voice is there, as misshapen and honest as always. Liam Gallagher has always credited John Lennon & John Lydon as his vocal forefathers, but there’s a lot in Shaun Ryders brand of Manc patois that made its way into the cities biggest musical export.
“You’re twisting my melon man!” It’s one of rock and roll’s most iconically weird lines, but it’s what the crowd have been waiting for and Ryder knows it, wringing every last cheer from his catchphrase throughout ‘Step On’, the bands biggest hit and absolute calling card. The version is a mash of the original album track and the Paul Oakenfold remix, a well handled revision that pleases all.
With ‘Pills & Thrills’ sorted after the loose closers of ‘Holiday’ and ‘Harmony’, Bez let’s us know that they’re at the age where they can’t even be f*cked leaving the stage for the encore, so we just go raw into the absolute masterclass of baggy, ‘Hallelujah’. The parry between Rowetta & Ryder shows the contrast in beauty and beast that makes the song as strong as it is.
“Does anyone know who Mad Cyril is? I met him!”
‘Wrote For Luck’ is tighter, heavier and headier than almost anything that came before, Ryder spits every word. The jangle of the record version is replaced by the kind of deep, throbbing sub that hits right in the chest.
“You used to speak the truth, but now you’re clever!”
The band leave the stage triumphant, maracas and fist aloft in Northern Soul-idarity. Great show Monday’s, we’ll see you in the club.
*Probably wildly inaccurate, corrections welcome.
