‘Madchester’ Manchester 90s rock band the Happy Mondays hit the Corn Exchange this month
Manchester’s finest, Happy Mondays, play the Corn Exchange this month as part of their Twenty Four Hour Party People – Greatest Hits tour, which swings our way on 25 November. Mashing together acid house and indie rock, Sean Ryder, Bez and co were poster boys of the ‘Madchester’ scene of the 80s and early 90s, embodying the sound, style and excess of the movement like no others. At the heart of it all was the near-mythical Haçienda: a warehouse-turned-nightclub which became the epicentre of acid house and rave culture in the UK for a few heady years. The band became national celebrities and released four hit albums before eventually imploding in a haze of class As in 1992.
Fast-forward to the present and it’s all changed: Bez has sworn off the hedonistic lifestyle in favour of gardening and politics, and Shaun is on the straight and narrow, too, happily married with kids. “I am really looking forward to the ‘Mondays’ shows leading up to Christmas 2017,” he said of the upcoming tour. “We’re performing better than ever and I love getting together with the band, blasting out all our great tunes we’ve made together over the decades. It’s gonna be great.” Pull on your baggy jeans and bucket hat, and party like it’s 1990 – tickets are £32.25.
