‘Madchester’ Manchester 90s rock band the Happy Mondays hit the Corn Exchange this month
Party like its 1990 this December at the Corn Exchange when Manchester’s finest, the Happy Mondays, stop by as part of an 18-date tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their seminal third album Pills ’N’ Thrills And Bellyaches. The band will perform the album, which features hits including Step on and Kinky Afro, in full, as well as wheeling out other favourite tracks.
Poster boys of the ‘Madchester’ movement which emerged in the late 80s and early 90s, Happy Mondays embodied the sound, style and excess of the scene like no others. At the heart of it all was the mythical Haçienda: a warehouse turned nightclub (funded by the boss of Factory Records), which became the epicentre of acid house and rave culture in the UK for a heady few years. Alongside fellow acts like Stone Roses and 808 State, Happy Mondays were a regular fixture at the venue with a huge following, but the Mondays’ distinctive sound gained them fans far beyond their home city.
Combining indie rock with the repetitive beats of acid house, powered by the witty lyrics of frontman Shaun Ryder and Bez’s, erm, mesmerising dance moves, the band became national celebrities and released four hit albums before eventually imploding in a haze of class As in 1992.
Fast-forward to 2015 and it’s all changed: Bez has sworn off the hedonistic lifestyle in favour of gardening and politics (he stood for parliament this year – and won’t be joining the reunion), and Shaun is equally clean living these days, happily married with kids. “Great to be doing 25 years of Pills ‘N’ Thrills…” he says of the tour. “Here’s to another 25 years. I’m going to remember it this time.”
Happy Mondays are on Sunday 5 December, tickets are £31.
