2016
2016 - Happy Mondays won the Ivor Novello’s Inspiration Award
16 July 2019 Bez Interview Article written by Mark Millar for XSNOIZE.com: In 2016, the Happy Mondays won the Ivor Novello’s Inspiration Award, further cementing their reputation as one of Britain’s most influential and loved bands. Why do you think people still love the music after all these years?
Bez: I think we were just fortunate to be part of Factory records and to be part of the old record industry before it started dying off. And because we are the last of the early scene and nothing else has come along replace it, that’s’ why we have managed to survive all these years later.
25 August 2016 - Vilar De Mouros Festival, Vilar De Mouros, Caminha, Portugal * Supporting: Peter Hook and the Light, The Legendary Tigerman *
Notes: Second to headliner Peter Hook & The Light.
Black Grape - 2016 - England Till I Die
Notes: The bands first recording session in nearly twenty years. Another football related track but this time for the 2016 European Nations.
Black Grape - 24 September 2016 - Brit Project, The Victoria Warehouse, Old Trafford, Manchester
? Day * Support Act(s): Badly Drawn Boy (AKA Damon Gough), Dodgy, Reverend and The Makers, The Watchmakers, Glass Caves, Feed The Kid, Sitting Pretty
(Incomplete) In The Name Of The Father / Tramazi Parti / Reverend Black Grape - Sympathy For The Devil (The Rolling Stones cover) / A Big Day In The North / Shake Well Before Opening / Kelly’s Heroes - It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (The Rolling Stones cover) / Little Bob
Notes: Paul Husband took photos for the media, photos were used on louderthanwar.com. "Brit Project take place over the weekend with a mix of legendary artists and breakthrough bands sharing two stages in one of Manchester’s most intriguing venues."
From 28 September 2016 louderthanwar.com, michaelhalpin1 Michael Halpin review: The Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, 24th September 2016.
Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse saw the first Brit Project take place over the weekend with a mix of legendary artists and breakthrough bands sharing two stages in one of Manchester’s most intriguing venues. Louder Than War’s Michael Halpin was there to tell us all about it. Photos by Paul Husband
The likes of Primal Scream, Black Grape, Badly Drawn Boy and Dodgy lined-up alongside The Watchmakers, Glass Caves, Feed The Kid and Sitting Pretty for this unique live music event. Of the unsigned acts, The Watchmakers held their own most self-assuredly alongside the likes of Reverend and The Makers and Dodgy, the latter churning out their back catalogue of crowd pleasing hits. Manchester’s own Badly Drawn Boy (AKA Damon Gough) followed Dodgy onstage, cutting a lone figure – just one man and his guitar. The charismatic individual that he is however managed to charm the audience throughout his set. ‘Everybody’s Stalking’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Disillusion’ and ‘Once Around The Block’ sounded delightful when stripped down to their bare bones, as did a medley of ‘People Get Ready/Sexual Healing and Mohammed Ali’ before Gough closed his set with a beautiful cover of Black’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.
Headliners Primal Scream played a greatest-hits-heavy set which included ‘Moving On Up’, ‘Loaded’, ‘Come Together’, ‘Higher Than The Sun’, ‘Rocks’ and ‘Country Girl’ but numbers from their questionable new album ‘Chaosmosis’ meant that this was not vintage Primal Scream and the evening was stolen by the recently reformed Black Grape.
Opening with their 1995 top ten hit ‘In The Name Of The Father’, Black Grape brought the Victoria Warehouse to life and the band, albeit not the original members, sounded far better than they ever did in the 90s. There were grins aplenty onstage and Shaun Ryder appeared to be genuinely enjoying himself. Possibly, for the first time in years. ‘Tramazi Parti’ followed ‘In The Name Of The Father’ and it was almost too difficult to think about writing a review when all I really wanted to do was throw a few Bez shapes like I did in the days when I was a touch more agile! ‘Reverend Black Grape’ appeared too early in the set but was as rabble-rousing in 2016 as it was over twenty years ago. Ryder kicked into an impromptu ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ style “woo-woo” but the real excitement came from Kermit who certainly seems to have a good set of vocal pipes on him. Again, far better than what can be recalled from the mid-90s. The groove on ‘A Big Day In The North’ and ‘Shake Well Before Opening’ was immense and the 2016 version of Black Grape is a water tight, groovy-as-fuck band who sailed through tonight’s set with the confidence of a well oiled machine. That confidence spilled into ‘Kelly’s Heroes’ as it slipped into ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll’ briefly before an extended ‘Little Bob’ ended the set triumphantly. Primal Scream may have been the headliners tonight but the evening definitely belonged to Black Grape.
Black Grape - 04 November 2016 - It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah! Deluxe Edition
CD1
Reverend Black Grape
In The Name Of The Father
Tramazi Party
Kelly's Heroes
Yeah Yeah Brother
A Big Day In The North
Shake Well Before Opening
Submarine
Shake Your Money
Little Bob
CD2-1 Tramazi Parti (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 3:57
CD2-2 Shake Well Before Opening (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 5:56
CD2-3 Little Bob (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 4:45
CD2-4 Kelly’s Heroes (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 4:14
CD2-5 Shake Your Money (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 3:59
CD2-6 A Big Day In The North (Live - Brixton Academy 1996) 4:49
CD2-7 England’s Irie
CD2-8 Yeah Yeah Brother (Outlaw Josie Wales Mix)
CD2-9 Kelly’s Heroes (Milky Bar Kid Mix) (Remix – Danny Saber) 4:42
CD2-10 Fat Neck (Beat The Fuck Down Mix By Goldie) (Remix – Goldie, Rob Playford) 6:04
CD2-11 Reverend Black Grape (The Crystal Method Edit) (Remix – The Crystal Method) 4:26
CD2-12 Pretty Vacant (Live at TFI) 3:51
CD2-13 In The Name Of The Father (Choppers Mix) (Remix – Danny Saber) 4:14
CD2-14 Yeah Yeah Brother (Clockwork Orange Mix) (Remix – Carl McCarthy) 4:24
CD2-15 Reverend Black Grape (Dark Side Mix) (Remix – Bush And Shad) 4:43
CD2-16 England’s Irie (Pass The Durazac) (Mixed By – Danny Saber, John X) 6:21
CD2-17 Land Of 1000 Karma Sutra Babes (Remix – Laura B, Nik Nicholl) 3:29
DVD
Reverend Black Grape (Top Of The Pops 1995)
Tramazi Party (Jools Holland 1995)
In The Name Of The Father (Jools Holland 1995)
Reverend Black Grape (Jools Holland 1995)
Fat Neck (Top Of The Pops 1996)
England’s Irie (Top Of The Pops 1996)
Reverend Black Grape (Official Video)
In The Name Of The Father (Official Video)
+2 Handy Hints From Bez (Live Interview On The Sunday Show 1996)
It’s Great When You’re Straight...Yeah 21st Anniversary Tour.
Black Grape - 17 November 2016 - Academy (Downstairs Academy 2), Liverpool * Support Act(s): Alias Kid
In The Name Of The Father / Tramazi Parti / Reverend Black Grape / A Big Day In The North / Yeah Yeah Brother / Tell Me Something /
encore: Rubber Band / Little Bob
Notes: Simon Lewis took photos for the meida, Getintothis.co.uk published several photos from the show.
Richard Lewis review from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 8 / 2 / 2017 -
Black Grape - O2 Academy, Liverpool, 17/11/2016 - A comeback comparable to Marlon Brando re-emerging with 'The Godfather', Shaun Ryder’s mid-nineties re-appearance with Black Grape was something that took pretty much everyone by surprise. The band’s short career, comprising of two LPs means that the tour to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of glorious debut platter ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah’ has the feeling of Shaun and sparring partner Kermit reminding everyone just how good the ‘Grape were before things soured.
Busted down from the capacious upstairs live room, to the more intimate Academy 2, the low stage and close quarters audience give the evening the feeling of a club gig. The sitar riff that powers ‘In the Name of the Father’ is greeted with cheers of instant recognition at the top of the set, as Kermit, who somehow looks almost the same as he did on his ‘Top Of the Pops’ debut with the band leads the audience through the choruses.
The simpatico between Shaun and Kermit is palpable, the rapport making the audience feel as though they are watching two friends messing around in the practice room, albeit backed by a thunderously well-drilled live band. With onstage patter that references Shaun’s dental work, their notorious drug misdemeanours and Kermit’s medical condition - "I've got a pig’s valve in my heart," the rapper cheerfully announces, referring to the massive op he had as a result of years of chemical abuse - the pair are on sparkling form, practically finishing each other's sentences.
‘Tramazi Parti’ second is bellowed en masse, the entire venue moving in unison while an elongated version of the single that announced their arrival 'Reverend Black Grape' stretches into an extended coda with added ‘Sympathy For the Devil’ style ‘whoo whoos’.
An excellent reading of ‘A Big Day In the North’ ("You can’t get any more scouse than Liverpool," Kermit jokes beforehand) combines limpid funk and bonkers French lyricism while the vitriolic ‘Yeah Yeah Brother’ leads into a raucous rendition of ‘Tell Me Something’ from second LP ‘Stupid Stupid Stupid’ that easily outstrips the studio version. Similarly ‘Rubber Band’, played during the encore hinging on its boisterous "Nonsense, Nonsense Nonsense" chorus and with a bassline as elastic as its title, is a standout, the crack team of sessioners backing Shaun and Kermit wringing the absolute maximum out of the material.
An exuberant restatement of principles and stoking anticipation for the band’s imminent third LP next year, the sole gripe is that the gig isn’t longer. Two ‘It's Great...’ cuts including ‘Shake Your Money’ and Stonesy rocker ‘Submarine’ aren’t played, along with standalone single ‘Fat Neck’.
Concluding with first album closer ‘Little Bob’, Shaun and Kermit depart the stage while the band speed into a piledriving coda, leaving to a whistle of feedback and A Guy Called Gerald’s house classic ‘Voodoo Ray’ playing over the PA. "It’s so amazing when Shaun Ryder’s actually clean," an impressed punter remarks to his mate walking from the venue towards Lime St. Station. "I mean, you saw just how good he is." Yep, They’re Great When They’re Straight indeed.
From 17 November 2016 - getintothis.co.uk, Review by Howard Doupe: Black Grape, Alias Kid: O2 Academy, Liverpool 18TH NOVEMBER 2016 Those 90’s baggy funksters Black Grape decide to celebrate their number one LP and Getintothis’ Howard Doupe trundles down to the O2 in search of a rave up. It’s a familiar story: controversial band becomes massive via a drug-fuelled sub-culture, band implodes, out of the ashes comes another. However this particular story surprisingly churned out some killer tunes that people were interested in. Spearheaded by the unique talent of one Shaun Ryder– the man who took one too many drugs, starred in one too many celebrity TV shows- and the equally impressive Kermit. This particular ‘reunion’ tour which coincides with 21 years of their platinum selling ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ finds Black Grape re-energised, focused and ready to celebrate. Would the nostalgia filled crowd be as up for it as they were first time around?
Alias Kid, whose swaggering rock rooted firmly in a Mancunian mould had the job of slowly bringing the crowd in. Plenty of attitude and thumping basslines. Three guitarists made sure the intended wall of distortion and thumping basslines came through loud and clear, both brazenly and unapologetically. With two frontmen sharing duties, the sharp harmonies that soared on new tracks No Way Back gave way to plenty of classic rock riffs and crowd clapping breakdowns. Third song in and a track with multiple ‘yeah yeah yeahs’ in the title begs the question of a greater nod to Liverpool culture or just swagger brimming over. A typically dreary Mancunian day alleviated by bucket loads of new talent; what we learned at the Off The Record festival. The plodding love-esque track in the traditional sense She’s Blowing My Mind gave way to foot-tapping, predictable lines and heart on sleeve sentiments. Sprinking of daze and gaze in a yearning blissful state. One memorable moment came in the form of resorting to singing lines from The Sex Pistols Anarchy in the UK and slagging off Theresa May. Saving best till last, closing track Messiah brought together their best riffs, hard-hitting tumbling bass and pounding drums – and more ‘yeah yeahs’! What came through was their enjoyment of the whole set. Here’s a band who won’t score many points for originality but defiantly love what they do.
Post-support act, pre-gig tunes kept the crowd firmly tuned into the Black Grape vibe with plenty of fans mirroring classic house-scene shapes of yesteryear. As the lights dipped and the band took to the stage and the venue electrified. First to prowl the front was Kermit looking lean, focussed and ready to enjoy the celebration of the last 21 years- an admittance that something that stood the test of time actually was created. Smiles a-plenty, Shaun Ryder joined the party. Choosing to deviate slightly from the albums order the band dove straight into In the Name of the Father like they’ve never been away. Plenty of ‘Manc banter’ as the crowds drug enthusiasts are welcomed before they launch into Tramazi Parti and the dance-pit surely gutted that rave whistles weren’t given out on the way in. Album classics like the single Reverend Black Grape had the crowd absolutely behind this band, at this point soaring on the nostalgia of an era well and truly experienced on a higher plain. There was a harder and grittier sound live in comparison to the record which really helped create something that demanded the audiences attention. Bass breakdowns that James Brown would be shaking the lid off to clamber on stage to and full on ballsy guitar gave the songs something extra. Impromptu crowd chants of Stonesy ‘whoo whoo’s’ fit perfectly with the mood. The song climaxing with a fully laden wah guitar wig out. Who loves rock n roll more than funk? Ryder and Kermit argued their case! Light hearted in between song banter flowed throughout the set with a running commentary of Ryder’s ongoing dental work gaining a few laughs before going into Shake Well Before Opening. A Big Day In the North had Ryder giving praise, ‘no more Northern than Liverpool’ – crowd pleasing for sure. After a 50 minute set the band returned for an encore that included Kelly’s Heroes and album closer Little Bob. Chants follow as a triumphant gig ends. As the crowd shuffles off to A Guy Called Gerald classic Voodoo Ray it begs the question- who in today’s increasingly diverse musical landscape is filling the void left by the euphoria found in Black Grape? Absolutely no one. Potential claimants form an orderly clue if you think your vibes ride high enough.
N - 20 November 2016 - Craig Gill commits suicide
Notes: Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig aged 44 ends his life. His suicide was said to be the result of tinnitus that had caused 20 years of insomnia and anxiety. Memorial services were attended by music-industry friends including Inspiral Carpets members, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, Stone Roses bassist Mani and Happy Mondays singer Rowetta.
Black Grape - 24 November 2016 Thursday - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh * Doors Open: 19:30 * Ticket price: £22.50
2017
22 May 2017 - Arian Grande Manchester Arena Attack
Notes: Shaun and his two girls were supposed to go but avoided the distaster.
From theguardian, Sat 1 Jul 2017 14.00 BST, by Tim Jonze: We were supposed to be at the Ariana Grande show the night of the attack. We had tickets. We’d done Little Mix there a couple of months before and my girls were hoping to meet her. But it was a sunny night, we’d been to the ice cream parlour and they didn’t mention it, so we didn’t go.
04 June 2017 - Let's Rock Bristol, Ashton Court, Bristol * Happy Mondays / The Lightning Seeds / Cast / Stereo MC's / Toploader / Atomic Kitten / Space / Republica / Baby D
24 June 2017 - Midfest, Dalkeith Country Park, Dalkeith, Scotland
Kaiser Chiefs / Feeder / Peter Hook and The Light / The Lightning Seeds / Peter Doherty / The Sugar Hill Mob / Happy Mondays
2017 - Bez stands for MP in Salford / Eccles for his, own, political party 'The Reality Party'
From theguardian, Sat 1 Jul 2017 14.00 BST, by Tim Jonze: Shaun Ryder: Bez ran to be a Salford MP, but would I vote for him? Would I fuck. He’s my pal and I love him. But he’d run the country depending on how he felt each morning after the first joint.
01 July 2017 - Shaun Ryder appears in The Guardian
From theguardian, Sat 1 Jul 2017 14.00 BST, by Tim Jonze: Shaun Ryder: ‘It was cycling that got me off drugs’ The Black Grape frontman, 55, on fatherhood and family life, coping with panic attacks and the truth about UFOs @timjonze
I left school without knowing my alphabet. By age 13 I was working on a building site with my mates. It was a different world in Manchester back then. Dinner time was watching strippers in the pub. Bernard Manning would come in and tell some jokes.
The Happy Mondays were different to everything else. If anything started to sound familiar we’d scrap it. We’d be on to something great and then go: “Wait a minute, that sounds like Echo and the Bunnymen – get rid of that.”
I didn’t get a chance to be a dad with my first kids [Ryder has six children]. I was still a kid, having kids. You think you’re doing the right thing by building a career, providing material things for them. But I was never at home.
We were supposed to be at the Ariana Grande show the night of the attack. We had tickets. We’d done Little Mix there a couple of months before and my girls were hoping to meet her. But it was a sunny night, we’d been to the ice cream parlour and they didn’t mention it, so we didn’t go.
Tony Wilson once compared me to WB Yeats. It didn’t really mean that much because I didn’t have a clue who Yeats was. The only poet I respected was John Cooper Clarke. I found poets pretentious back then.
It was cycling that got me off drugs. I’d get on my bike very early in the morning and keep cycling until very late at night, day after day, until it was out of the system. I was pedalling from 8am until 11pm. But once that’s done, you still have to deal with the mental stuff.
I saw my first UFO in 1978. There’s a whole world going on that we don’t know about. We’re using 100-year-old technology when we should be in hover cars and free from fossil fuels. I don’t buy it. The powers that be know about something and us lot are being treated like absolute dicks.
Bez ran to be a Salford MP, but would I vote for him? Would I fuck. He’s my pal and I love him. But he’d run the country depending on how he felt each morning after the first joint.
Trying to quit heroin using a stomach implant was disastrous. I tried it in 1995 when it was still a new thing. The problem was that they withdraw you while you’re out unconscious, and I expected to wake up feeling fine. But I didn’t. I woke up and it was fucking murderous.
I didn’t want to do I’m a Celebrity at first. I was worried about the luvvies inside the jungle. But even Gillian McKeith turned out to be all right. Any woman who can blag their way to a TV career just by looking at shit has got to be half all right by me.
When you come close to death, everything slows down. It’s happened to me a few times. Car crashes where the car has flipped around and bounced; an emergency landing in a plane crash; a few guns shoved in my eyeballs.
I had my first panic attack at 52 years of age. I’m glad it came when it did. If I’d had one as a young lad I don’t think I’d have been able to have a career. It’s the most debilitating thing I’ve come across in my life.
08 July 2017 - Sunniside Live, Sunniside Garden, Sunderland
2017 - Bass Guitar Magazine Paul Ryder Interview
"I never learned to slap, but there’s a single pop on Kinky Afro" The Manchester bassist talks so hip...The Happy Mondays return with a string of anniversary shows later this year, so we caught up with bassist and founding member Paul Ryderand quizzed him on his gear loves, early influences and current adventures with Superfreak.
“I’ve used a Fender Jazz bass for many years now. I started off on a Westone Thunder II, and all the hardware on that bass was really good quality, but the neck was too long for me. The Jazz was perfect because I’ve only got little hands. “I bought my first one from a store called Vintage & Rare Guitars in London, with my share of the Mondays’ publishing deal. It had only been in the country two days when I saw it at the shop: it had come from Texas, where some guy had gone to buy guitars. “I plugged it in and it was perfect: I’ve never done anything to it. It was even set up perfectly for me: it was one of those ‘meant-to-be’ moments. I used it on a lot of recordings, but on a couple of songs on the Pills ’N’ Thrills And Bellyaches album [1990] I used our producer Steve Osborne’s cheap Squier bass. It was one in a million, and sounded absolutely fucking amazing. “I kept that Jazz for many years until times became tough, and I had a very big heroin habit: I said I’d never sell it, but I did. Luckily, [Smiths guitarist] Johnny Marr ended up with it in his collection, because he’d always wanted that bass. At least it went to a good home. I did ask if I could buy it back, but he said he wasn’t selling it. Now I’m back on my feet I’ll be asking him again when I see him!
“I’ve got a 1977 Jazz now, which I bought from a store in Santa Monica. It’s beautiful: another one where I didn’t have to do anything except change the strings to flatwounds. Apart from that I’ve never really touched it. I never learned to slap, but there’s a single pop on the song Kinky Afro, just for a quick second. I tried, but I could never do it.
“The grooves I played in the Mondays came from Northern soul and disco. I can’t read music, so I just copied the basslines, but I could never get them spot-on so they turned into my own basslines."
“A lot of it came from my cousin’s record collection. I was really into Phil Lynott as well - I was a big, big Thin Lizzy fan. I saw them in 1977 in Manchester and caught Scott Gorham’s guitar pick when he threw it into the crowd, and then taught myself to play bass using that same pick, until it fell to pieces. I was also really into Jean-Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers: he’s amazing, man, really cool. And James Jamerson, of course. They were my three main influences on bass.
“I’m using Ampeg again now. For 25 years, I used two 8x10 cabs and an SVT Classic head, but when we got back together the first time I decided to go with Mesa/Boogie. I used those for four years, but now I’m back with Ampeg and it feels really good. The Mesa/Boogie was good and did its job, but there’s a warmth with the Ampeg that I love. The Fender and Ampeg combination suits me down to the ground - I like to feel my trousers flapping.
“I’m recording a new project called Superfreak at the moment, and it’s freezing over here! I miss my home in Malibu. I moved out to California years ago and got acclimatised within a week... I do miss some of the Manchester vibes, though.”
21-23 July 2017 - (Keepin' It Surreal) Nozstock - The Hidden Valley Festival, Herefordshire, West Midlands
Notes: Also appearing over the weekend included Seasick Steve and The Sugarhill Gang.
27 July 2017 - Kendal Calling Festival, Lowther Deer Park, Cumbria
(Intro Jam) - Hallelujah / Kinky Afro / Dennis & Lois / Clap Your Hands / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / Step On / 24 Hour Party People / W.F.L.
Notes: The prelude to Hallelujah is amazing. The entire may have been streamed though the official Kendal Calling website. I have only seen highlights (noted below) on Youtube.
Bootleg: Webstream () (Intro Jam) - Hallelujah / Kinky Afro / Dennis & Lois
Bootleg: Penrith: Soundboard from near complete webstream () CD-R
28-30 July 2017 - CarFest North 2017, Bolesworth Castle, Liverpool * Tom Odell / Manic Street Preachers / Rick Astley / Happy Mondays / Texas / Busted / Seasick Steve / Sophie Ellis-Bextor / Deacon Blue / Melanie C / Dodgy / Marc Almond / Morrissey and Marshall / Fond Of Rudy / The Killerz
Black Grape - 04 August 2017 - Pop Voodoo Release Date
UMC 5757996
Written by Shaun Ryder, Martin Glover & Paul Leveridge,
Produced, Programmed and mixed by Youth, Mixed and recorded by Michael Rendall, Assistant Engineering by Luke Fitzpatrick & Jamie Grashion.
Mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange. Mike Marsh Mastering, Exmouth, Devon
Illustration by Jon Gray @ gray318. Design by Estuary English.
UMC A&R by Johnny Chandler, Rosie Danks. UMC Marketing by James Meadows. UMC Digital by Toni Tuesday.
Bass, Guitar, Fender VI (Bass Guitar) – Youth. Keyboards, Guitar, Programming, Additional Production, Engineering, Mixing and Cuts - Michael Rendall. Guitar – Seth Leppard. Saxophone – Alex Ward. Programming & Guitar – Jamie Grashion. Harmonica – Rainbow Man. Acoustic Guitar – Jackson Scott.
Shaun thanks Alan McGee, Simon Fletcher, Neetsy Heryet, Joanne Ryder, Olli, Pearl, Lulu, Wayne Blairs. Musicians: Mikey Shine, Seth Lepperard, Dan Broad, Che Beresford.
Everything You Know Is Wrong - Intro 4:30 / Nine Lives / Set The Grass On Fire (contains samples of 'Waiting For My Baby' by De Franks and His Professionals, Written by De Frank Kakrah.) / Whiskey, Wine And Ham / Money Burns / String Theory / Pop Voodoo (contains samples of 'Ngyegye No So' by African Brothers Band. Courtsey of Analog Africa.) / I Wanna Be Like You / Sugar Money / Shame / Losing Sleep / Young And Dumb
Kermit thanks Amanda Moonbeam and our lil ray of sun-shine Xian, Fidel, Mom and dad, Corol, Lesley, Christine, Pete, Sam, Mai, Rose, Greg Wilson and Tracy Carmen for being all things at all times. Howard Marks, Bez, Emma and Ellie Raven, Catherine and Carmel Reynolds, Cleve Freckleton, Che Wilson, The Isrights and the Extended Super Weird Substance Family. My Droog Mal Earl, Tim Collins, All The Shady Ladies, Jay Eego, Dan Charlotte, Aydin, Graham Z, Daisy Eris Campbell and The Cosmic Trigger Family, Festival23 Mob, Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie, John Higgs and far too numerous to mention all the others. Remember..If there's no culture in the land you have to make one.
Everything You Know Is Wrong - Intro
Nine Lives
Set The Grass On Fire
Whiskey, Wine And Ham
Money Burns
String Theory
Pop Voodoo
I Wanna Be Like You
Sugar Money
Shame
Losing Sleep
Young And Dumb
Notes: Some sites denote a delayed release date "September 2017".
06 August 2019 - Happy Mondays - Interview with Shaun Ryder by Richard Lewis from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 6 / 8 / 2019: Looking to the future, given how well the group’s tours have gone in recent years, is there any chance of new material? “I mean (band manager) Alan McGee didn’t want an album, then he did want one. Then the promoters were like ‘We don’t want a new album. We’re happy with these tours where you doing this greatest hits set so it doesn’t really make any sense.’ I mean it’s on and off. You never say never. We can still fucking write. I think we’re better than ever at the moment. I always used to think once you’d hit forty you were finished. When I was in my twenties, I’d look at guys who were in brilliant bands and brilliant musicians and then as they got later in life I’d think, ‘Nah, they’re losing it’, so I’m glad I proved myself wrong with the Black Grape album” (2017’s excellent return ‘Pop Voodoo’).
DJ Paul Ryder - 05 August 2017 - Eastern Electrics Festival, Morden Park, London * Supporting: Carl Cox, Âme, Darius Syrossian, Nick Curly, Waze & Odyssey
05 August 2017 - Shaun Ryder appears in The Guardian
From theguardian, Sat 5 Aug 2017 09.30 BST, by Rosanna Greenstreet:
The Q&A - Shaun Ryder Interview
Shaun Ryder: ‘Embarrassing moment? I’ve had loads, but luckily I can’t remember them’ The singer on being a pescatarian, picking his toenails and being held at gunpoint in New York.
Born in Salford, Shaun Ryder, 54, left school at the age of 15. As lead singer of the Happy Mondays, he was a key figure in Manchester’s rave scene. The band released four albums before splitting in 1993. Ryder went on to form Black Grape, whose new album, Pop Voodoo, is out next month. He has six children and lives in Salford.
When were you happiest? When I was 15 and starting my first job as a messenger boy at the post office, delivering telegrams.
What is your greatest fear? My little ones are eight and nine, and I have turned into one of those dads who worries. We were almost going to the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. We had tickets on the door, but it was a hot night and the girls carried on playing.
What is your earliest memory? When I was six, I remember the police coming into our school and warning us about heroin. I can remember thinking, “I’ll never be involved in that stuff.”
What was your most embarrassing moment? I’ve had loads, but luckily, like the 1990s, I can’t remember them.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? My muscles have caved in. I go to bed at night, and next day I’ve got this pot belly where all my muscles have collapsed; so I look fat, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I am a pescatarian and I eat healthily, but it’s all thyroid bullshit.
Who would play you in the film of your life? I know who they’ve asked, but I can’t tell – I’d get murdered.
What is your most unappealing habit? I pick my toenails. I really enjoy it.
What did you want to be when you were growing up? In 1975, I watched the film Stardust, and Adam Faith said, “I supply the birds, the pills and the pot.” And I thought, “I want that.”
What or who is the greatest love of your life? My missus, Joanne. She used to be a hairdresser and a butcher. I have to be very careful, because she’ll wait until I’m asleep and chop me up into little bits.
What was the best kiss of your life? The wife, she’s my best everything. She’s actually my best shag.
Have you ever said ‘I love you’ and not meant it? I don’t have a problem with saying, “I love you.” I probably said it to the whole of the red-light district in Amsterdam when I was about 21.
What is your guiltiest pleasure? I have discovered vegan ice-cream; that’s replaced the whisky.
If you could edit your past, what would you change? The 12 years I spent in receivership. That was me being a dick. I lost the court case when I wanted to sack my management and had to pay them £120,000. I said, “I am not paying you, because I should have won.”
If you could go back in time, where would you go? I would like to wander around Salford in the mid-1800s.
What is the closest you’ve come to death? I had a gun shoved in my eyeball in New York by a crack dealer in the 1980s. I have also watched somebody next to me get shot in the head in a gun battle – that was in Jamaica in the early 1990s.
What song would you like played at your funeral? One Nation Under a Groove, by Funkadelic.
17 August 2017 - Leopardstown Racecourse, Leopardstown, Leinster, Ireland
Intro / Hallelujah / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Do It Better / Donovan / Clap Your Hands / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On / 24 Hour Party People / Wrote for Luck
M - October / November 2017 - Happy Mondays feature on the cover of Louder Than War Magazine Issue 12, Priced £4.99
01 October 2017 Sunday - Looe Festival, Loose Beach, Looe, Cornwall * Support Act(s): Cast
Notes: The Jesus & Mary Chain headlined Friday night and Lulu (yes Lulu!) headlined Saturday night. A bootleg has not yet circulated but if it ever, surely it would deserve the title 'Looe Fit'.
08 October 2017 Sunday - An Evening With Shaun Ryder ‘Talking Madchester, UFOs & Bellyaches’, The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Notes: From poster 'Shaun Ryder discusses Madchester, UFO's and Bellyaches with John Robb in an evening not to be missed.' John Robb was host, he interviewed Shaun Ryder and kept the night flowing with video screen footage, music and had several questions prompted to Shaun.
November 2017 - Shaun Ryder appears in Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story
Notes: Shaun plays the gangster 'Mad Dog' in the sequel. His cameo is brief, Ryder wanders around a prison yard, sits down, mumbles eight lines of mildly threatening dialogue and then gets stabbed to death with a lightbulb and thrown off a balcony.
Loose Fit also features in the film, whilst a man gets beaten up on a rug.
Black Grape - 03 November 2017 Friday - Hull
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Black Grape - 2017 - 100 Club, London
Yeah Yeah Brother / String Theory / Pop Voodoo / Shake Well Before Opening / Little Bob
Happy Mondays are...
Gary Whelan - Drums
Kavin Sandhu
Mark Berry - Bez
Mark Day - Guitar
Paul Davis - Keyboards
Paul Ryder - Bass Guitar
Rowetta Satchell - Vocals
Shaun Ryder - Voice
30th Anniversary Twenty Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits Tour 2017
Taken from the tour itinerary ''The Bible According To Dave''.
The Greatest Hits Tour 2017
10 November 2017 Friday - Caird Hall, Dundee (Depart Manchester: 07:00, 285 miles. Arrival at venue: 13:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 13:00. Soundcheck: 16:30. Support 1 Soundcheck: 18:16. Dinner: 19:00) * Support Act(s): Bosco *
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
12 November 2017 Sunday - Shiiine On Weekender, Butlins, Minehead (Depart Manchester: 07:00. Arrival at venue: 13:00, 226 miles. Venue access: 13:00. Floor Package Load In: Backline. Backline load in: 13:00. Soundcheck:. Support 1 Soundcheck:. Dinner:) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Happy Mondays /
Levellers / The Wedding Present / The Farm / Dreadzone / The Wonder Stuff /
A Guy Called Gerald / Dub Pistols / The Icicle Works / pop will eat itself / A Certain Ratio / Peter Hook & The Light / Freak Power / Cut La Roc / Hurricane #1 / The Woodentops / CUD / BMX Bandits / The Real People / The Orchids / Jim Bob / The Clone Roses / Wolfgang Flür / My Drug Hell / Smaller / Deja Vega / Theatre Royal / Dave Rowntree / The Wendys / Psyence / Fay Hallam / Ian Prowse & Amsterdam / The Train Set / Independent Country / Time for Action / The Verve Experience / The G-O-D (UK) / Starsailor / Embrace / Fun Lovin' Criminals / Clint Boon Party
13 November 2017 Monday - Butlins, Minehead (Depart Manchester: 07:00. Arrival at venue: 17:00. Venue access: Travel Day. Backline load in:. Soundcheck: Support 1. Soundcheck: Dinner.) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
14 November 2017 Tuesday - Academy, Bristol (Depart Manchester: Arrival at venue: on site. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
15 November 2017 Wednesday - The Dome, Brighton (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:30. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
16 November 2017 Thursday - Roundhouse, London (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 03:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 (Jon DaSilva) Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) Doors Open: 19:00 * Stage Time: 21:00 * Ticket Price: £32.50 * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Donovan / Clap Yer Hands / Hallelujah / Judge Fudge / Rave On / Freaky Dancin’ / 24 Hour Party People / Bob’s Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On
Encore: W.F.L. (Wrote For Luck)
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Lisa Torem review from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 9 February 2018
The Happy Mondays are comprised of seven lively musicians: vocalist Shaun Ryder, vocalist Rowetta, guitarist Mark Day, drummer Gary Whelan, bassist Paul Ryder, keyboardist Dan Broad and Mark “Bez” Berry who doubles as a percussionist and dancer. Their ambitious 30th Anniversary Twenty-Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits tour began Friday, November 10, 2017 in Dundee, Scotland and will end just short of Christmas, on December 23rd with opening act Jon DaSilva at every show except for opening night.
One could not help but feel the excitement in the air. At every turn of the spacious and imaginatively constructed Roundhouse, fans chatted about the songs they hoped to hear on the evening’s set list.
The legendary group blew into Camden’s historical venue on a drizzling November 16th, and began their truculent set about 9 p.m. By that time, hundreds of fans had already squeezed their ways towards the stage, hoping to catch a good glimpse of the casually-dressed Shaun Ryder, the effervescent Bez and the ever-exuberant Rowetta, whose choreographed moves, glass-breaking vocals and flowery dress with flowing sleeves added even more panache to the band’s truly psychedelic vibe.
That vibe was extended to the backdrop, where chunky letters belched out the band’s name in disarming hues. Armed with electronic keyboards, heavy percussion, thrashing guitar and bass, and Bez to egg them on, the Happy Mondays drove the crowd mad as soon as Ryder hit that very first note.
Many fans from the band’s native Manchester were in attendance; even some who had been too young to enjoy the camaraderie at Tony Wilson’s Hacienda, where the Mondays had set off the Madchester rave scene of the late 1980s. Although this cross-section was familiar with the records and shamelessly sung along to the familiar set list, they may have longed to experience the excitement of their parent’s generation. And there was an overall feeling of gratefulness throughout the stadium, as this is a band that selectively tours.
The early on highlights of the extended set list included ‘Kinky Afro’, with its delightfully singable “yippie yippee yi yi yah” refrain and the quirky ‘Donovan’-Ryder explained that he had “ripped off Donovan’s words and made it our own.” They began, however, with the engaging ‘Loose Fit’. The dreamy synth section of this song is absolutely beguiling. When Rowetta and Shaun teamed up for the chorus, “Do what you’re doing, say what you’re saying,” and the band followed it up with an even more pronounced instrumental flavour, it was easy to understand how pervasive the Mondays were in the famed rave scene; how they managed to thrill and swallow up an entire generation.
‘Dennis and Lois’ went from pop to an almost punk vibe in seconds flat. Ryder’s voice added an urgency to the story. The clacking keys and weird blips and beeps really carried through the theme. I loved Shaun’s swooning on ‘Clap Yer Hands’, which of all the songs that night seemed to borrow from the R & B tradition, and, for that matter, even ‘Judge Fudge’ maintained a bluesy flair. But ‘Hallelujah’ was the crowning glory of the night, courtesy of those absolutely infectious, electronic riffs that drifted in and out of consciousness like tsunamic waves; not to mention those swirling vocals, set against pounding, multi-rhythms. It was fun to hear Ryder juice up and revitalize the lyrics with his deep, rebellious voice, which still, in my opinion, has a strong Lennon-esque quality, and to relive the joy of those hypnotically, contagious keyboard riffs and virulent, percussive pulses. Fans melted on the dance floor during ‘Rave On’ and ‘Freaky Dancin’’ — a vast sea of bobbing heads drew my second-level eyes downward.
Whelan, Broad and Paul Ryder really rocked out on ‘24 Hour Party People’ as Shaun Ryder’s voice grew increasingly hoarse and aggressive. ‘Bob’s Yer Uncle’ was a definite contrast with its Calypso beat, subtle intro. and quasi-Incan instrumentation.
Towards the end, ‘Step On’ and ‘Holiday’ from Factory Records 1990’s ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ brought any remaining seated fans to their feet and set off a sea of arms pumping purposely into thin air.
But although the Zen-centric phrases filled the senses, this wasn’t solely about the music. Ryder’s personality came to the fore vis a vis the occasional wry comment: “I remember the ‘60s better than the ‘90s,” he quipped during one transition, when he wasn’t swaying and swerving the mic at his musical counterpart.
Although the sound was full, the dynamics were tastefully balanced, and in my balcony seat I had a wonderful view of the ongoing antics. Whilst I can’t speak for the sound on the ground level, it was clear, visually, that the crowd was loving and losing itself in every electronic phrase, declaring their appreciation with wide smiles and dreamy-eyed stares.
As luck would have it, I made contact that night with a youthful Mancurian native, Elliott Howarth-Johnson. He was there with his girlfriend Ailish and they both seemed very excited to be there. Because he seemed to know every song by heart, I wanted to know about his connection with the Manchester-formed band. His responses to my queries follow: “I’ve been a fan for about three years, I guess, but I was always a fan of the song ‘Step On,’ which I think most people are, without realising it’s the Happy Mondays. Then I just started listening to the albums and went from there.”
“I think I first came across them from one of my dad’s old tapes. I remember thinking the name was really cool and listening to them when I was about twelve or thirteen, but I didn’t really like it then. I think you have to listen several times before you get why Shaun Ryder is such an amazing part of the band. There is no doubt that Shaun can’t sing all that well, but his lyrics are just so, so good that it doesn’t matter!”
“I had a wicked time the other day and would have liked to have been standing but it was amazing to take Ailish for the first time to see them and she really enjoyed it, too, so thirty years on, they are still getting new fans! The best song for me is ‘Tart Tart’ which they didn’t play, but ‘Step On’ will live on longer than they will. Also, the lyrics to ‘Kinky Afro’ must be some of the best written.” Like Elliott, I feel I can say that I’ve become a true fan after tonight’s pumped-up performance. The Happy Mondays may go down in history as having defined a generation, but their legacy, undoubtedly, continues on.
17 November 2017 Friday - University, Cardiff, Wales (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:00. Venue access: 08:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 13:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:00) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
18 November 2017 Saturday - Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:00. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 13:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 19:00) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
22 November 2017 Wednesday - Leas Cliff, Folkstone (Depart Manchester: 06:00. Arrival at venue: 12:00. Venue access: 12:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
23 November 2017 Thursday - University Of East Anglia, UEA, Norwich (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:30. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 19:00) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
24 November 2017 Friday - Cliffs Pavillion, Southend (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
30th Anniversary Twenty Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits Tour
25 November 2017 Saturday - Corn Exchange, Cambridge * Doors Open: 19:30 * Ticket Price: £32.25 * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 02:30. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30)
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
28 November 2017 Tuesday - Guild Hall, Preston (Depart Manchester: 10am. Arrival at venue: 11:30. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 13:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
29 November 2017 Wednesday - The Baths Hall, Scunthorpe (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 03:30. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
30 November 2017 Thursday - Sands Centre, Carlisle (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 05:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
01 December 2017 Friday - Olympia, Liverpool (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 03:30. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva *
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Judge Fudge / Hallelujah / Freaky Dancin' / 24 Hour Party People / Step On
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Richard Lewis review from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 09 February 2018 - Olympia, Liverpool, 1/12/2017
"I forgot to put a belt on before I came on stage!" frontman Shaun Ryder states two songs into the Happy Mondays’ set, at the opulent Liverpool Olympia. "Let’s hope my trousers don't fall down"! he cracks to the near sold out crowd. "What's this?" the singer says, picking up a stage-bound missile that lands near his feet. "That’s very kind" he remarks cheerfully, holding up a brown leather belt that has been thrown from the crowd.
Almost thirty years since they played their first gig in Liverpool, the rapport between the Salfordians onstage and the thousand plus punters on the dance floor and balcony remains as strong as ever.
A band whose live shows were famed for collapsing the distance between themselves and the audience, with the players and the crowd dressed identically, the outfit who invented what used to be termed ‘indie dance’ arrive onstage following a scene-setting DJ set by fellow Hacienda alumnus Jon Da Silva.
The powerhouse soul tones of co-vocalist Rowetta, looking virtually the same as when the original line up splintered in 1992 ushers in an excellent rendition of ‘Loose Fit’, as the crowd begins moving at the first sound of Mark Day’s chiming guitar riff.
Opening with a four-track run from the era-defining ‘Pills N’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ the Lady Marmalade cribbing ‘Kinky Afro’ and the band’s homage to Anglophile New York superfans ‘Dennis and Lois’ both shine as brightly as ever.
"Judge Fudge?" Ryder says incredulously consulting the set list at his feet. "Who wrote this out, was it you Dan?" the Bob Dylan of Salford asks, turning to look at the keys player. While Ryder might profess to dislike the 1991 single, the crowd certainly feel differently, chorusing its ‘I shoulda told ya’ hook.
Returning to the live set, three quarters of the band’s seminal 1989 EP ‘Madchester Rave On’, which saw the term go overground and land the band on ‘Top of the Pops’ is aired. While its lead track ‘Hallelujah’ has been played at every Mondays’ gig since 1989, the similarly brilliant ‘Rave On’ and ‘Clap Your Hands’ have slipped away. The ‘Need a Mesa Boogie’ lyric from the former, presumably referring to Mark Day’s guitar amp, Shaun’s comment to his younger brother Paul "This is mostly your one, bro" at the top of the track is no exaggeration, as the criminally underrated four stringer powers the song and much of the set, supplying the backbone to the band’s off-kilter funk.
The 1986 track which first introduced the outfit to an unsuspecting world, a tuneful (but more loose than an old Primark sweater) rendition of ‘Freaky Dancin’’ underpinned by a Hendrix inspired wah-wah riff concludes with Shaun joking "Thank fuck for that!" The song that effectively sums up their ethos meanwhile, ‘24 Hour Party People’ supplies the highlight, the meeting of Parliament/Funkadelic, Krautrock and The Rolling Stones sounding as though it could have been issued last week.
While it would mean having to swerve away from their best-known songs, which without wishing to state the bleeding obvious is the point of this current jaunt, dusting off some deep cuts from the Mondays’ back catalogue would be hugely welcome. While the group’s 1992 set ‘Yes, Please!’ remains notorious for the circumstances surrounding its recording (thousands spent, an abundance of crack cocaine, inter-band disharmony, all-round bad vibes) several of its tracks could easily slot in alongside Mondays’ standards, ditto more songs from the band’s unfairly overlooked 1987 debut ‘Squirrel & G-Man’.
The keyboard riff of ‘Step On’ draws a near-Pavlovian response from the crowd, as the roar of recognition gives way to the entire venue up to the balcony becoming a writhing mass of dancers.
A group whose sets were always to the point, after just over an hour and a quarter the end is signalled by Shaun sauntering towards the backstage area as a juggernaut version of ‘Wrote For Luck’ nears its climax. Mark Day!" Bez shouts into the mic, pointing at the Mondays riffmeister, as the guitarist brings the evening to a close.
As the lights go up the theme tune to long defunct BBC sports prog ‘Grandstand’ booms from the PA to the great amusement of the crowd who sing the melody of the former Saturday afternoon stalwart en masse. An excellent precis of what made the band so special in the first place, on this evidence the group’s new album, pencilled in for a 2019 release will be something of a corker. See you in two years’ time to do this all again then?"
02 December 2017 Saturday - O2 Academy, Leeds (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue:. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 13:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 17:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
06 December 2017 Wednesday - O2 Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham (Depart Manchester: 09:00. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act(s): Jon Dasilva *
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Donovan / Clap Your Hands / Hallelujah / Judge Fudge / Rave On / Freaky Dancin' / 24 Hour Party People / Bob's Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On / Wrote for Luck
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
07 December 2017 Thursday - Engine Shed, Lincoln (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 02:30. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
08 December 2017 Friday - O2 Academy, Newcastle (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 11:30. Soundcheck: 13:30. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:00) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
09 December 2017 Saturday - Rock City, Nottingham * (Depart Manchester:. Arrival at venue: 04:30. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 11:30. Soundcheck: 13:30. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:30. Dinner: 18:00) * Ticket Price: £29.50 * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
13 December 2017 Wednesday - Academy, Manchester (Depart Manchester: TBC. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 12:00. Soundcheck: 14:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 17:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Donovan / Clap Your Hands / Hallelujah / Judge Fudge / Rave On / Freaky Dancin' / 24 Hour Party People / Bob's Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On
encore: Wrote for Luck
Notes: As the band launch into Step On, Shaun tells the audience John Congos doesn't give us 1% of this. You're twisting my melon John...'. Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Bootleg: Audience Recording (77:40)
14 December 2017 Thursday - Venue Crmru, Llandudno, Wales (Depart Manchester: 08:30. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 11:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 13:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Donovan / Clap Your Hands / Hallelujah / Judge Fudge / Rave On / Freaky Dancin' / 24 Hour Party People / Bob's Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
Bootleg: Audience Recording (Tascam DR05>Audacity>TLH sbe Flac level 8. Recorded at the front of stage barrier. 76:38)
15 December 2017 Friday - Vicar Street, Dublin (Depart Manchester: TBC. Arrival at venue: TBC. Venue access: TBC. Backline load in: TBC. Soundcheck: TBC. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30. 16 December 2017 Saturday - Travel Day) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Loose Fit / Kinky Afro / Dennis and Lois / Donovan / Clap Your Hands / Hallelujah / Judge Fudge / Rave On / Freaky Dancin' / 24 Hour Party People / Bob's Yer Uncle / Holiday / Step On / Wrote for Luck
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
20 December 2017 Wednesday - Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen (Depart Manchester: 06:00. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 12:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
21 December 2017 Thursday - The Ironworks, Inverness (Depart Manchester: 04:00. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 12:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
22 December 2017 Friday - Grand Hall, Kilmarnock (Depart Manchester: 05:00. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 12:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act: DJ Jon DaSilva
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
23 December 2017 Saturday - O2 Academy, Glasgow (Depart Manchester: 02:00. Arrival at venue: 11:00. Venue access: 10:00. Backline load in: 11:00. Soundcheck: 12:00. Support 1 Soundcheck: 16:00. Dinner: 18:30) * Support Act(s): Jon Dasilva *
Notes: Date taken from the Greatest Hits Tour 2017 Tour Itinerary.
2018
2018 - Shaun's dad Derek Ryder passes away
Notes: Once Happy Mondays roadie, Derek passed away. Derek was known as Horseman, so Paul and Shaun didn't have to call him dad in public.
DJ Paul Ryder - 17 March 2018 - Ministry of Sound, London * Supporting: Martin Solveig, Billy Kenny, Coco Cole, Danny Howard, Creange, Ben Terry, Del-30, Technik, Matt Klein, James Foulkes, James Nash, J.Rayner, Lee Gardner, Frederick Gallagher, George Halverson, Sam Deary
24 June 2018 - Sunday Sessions 2018, Dalkeith Country Park, Dalkeith * Kaiser Chiefs / Peter Hook & The Light / Sea Power / Sugar Hill Gang / Feeder / Happy Mondays / Peter Doherty
09 August 2018 - Steve Wright’s Big Guests, BBC Radio 2
Notes: Shaun Ryder talks about his upcoming tour with Black Grape.
Official: MP3 BBC Download
19 August 2018 - Hardwick Live, Hardwick Hall Hotel, Sedgefield * Shed Seven / Happy Mondays / Feeder / Public Image Ltd. (PiL) / Echo & the Bunnymen / Melanie C / The Cuban Brothers / Nerina Pallot / lucy spraggan / Detroit Social Club / Smoove & Turrell / Dennis / Graeme Park / DJ Greg Wilson
24 August 2018 - InnerCity, Zebedee's Yard, Hull * Support Act(s): Peter Hook And The Light *
25 August 2018 - - Victorious Festival, Southsea Seafront, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Kaiser Chiefs / The Cribs / Happy Mondays / Shed Seven / Pigeon Detectives / PINS / Coasts (UK) / Lightning Seeds / Calaveras / Number 9
01 September 2018 Saturday - Cool Britannia 2018, Main Stage, Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire * Support Act(s): Feeder, Britpop Classical, Lightning Seeds, Peter Hook & The Light, Dodgy, Toploader.
Notes: Happy Mondays headline Saturday night.
Happy Mondays & Black Grape - 08 September 2018 Saturday - Shiiine On Birmingham Festival, Genting Arena (The NEC), Birmingham * Doors Open: 13:00-03:00am * Ticket Price: £59 (Advance, VIP also was available) * Support Act(s): Orbital, Shed Seven, Embrace, Cast, Julian Cope, Glasvegas, Reverend And The Makers, The Wedding Present, Gang Of Four, Dreadzone, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Jim Bob, Abdoujaparov, A Certain Ratio. Official Hacienda Aftershow: FAC51 The Hacienda: 23:00-03:00 Todd Terry, Marshall Jefferson & Jon Dasilva.
Notes: 3 Indoor Stages & 2 Outdoor Stages boasted different headliners, Orbital, Shed Seven etc.
Happy Mondays came on stage just before Shed Seven.
Black Grape came on stage just before Cast, giving Shaun and co. about an hour and half before the Mondays slot. Stephanie Colledge took Black Grape stage photos for the media.
Other acts included A Certain Ratio, Gang Of Four, The Wedding Present, Reverend And The Makers, Glasvegas, Julian Cope, Cast, Embrace and Orbital.
September 2018 - Bargain Hunt: Pulp v Happy Mondays
Notes: Recorded and broadcast in aid of BBC Music Day, Friday. A special edition of Bargain Hunt featuring Happy Mondays and Pulp had to be reshot after one of them was found to have broken the rules. But the rule break was only discovered after filming had finished which meant that the end of the show needed to be recorded again. The show saw Pulp front man Jarvis Cocker and the band's keyboard player Candida Doyle go up against Happy Mondays rockers Bez and Rowetta to find hidden gems at an antiques fair in Kent. Bez's wife was caught bidding on her husband's items, Bez said it was all for charity. Jarvis did not appear for the shows proft finale reshoot.
Broadcast: BBC
Re-Broadcast: Subsequent Repeats On BBC I-Player
Black Grape - 28 September 2018 Friday - Picturedrome, Holmfirth
Black Grape - 29 September 2018 Saturday - Academy, Brixton, London * Supporting: Ocean Colour Scene
Black Grape - 02 November 2018 Friday - Venue23, Wakefield
Black Grape - 03 November 2018 Saturday - KeeleSU (Keele University Students' Union), Keele
Black Grape - 09 November 2018 Friday - Academy 2, Liverpool
Black Grape - 10 November 2018 Saturday - Old Fire Station, Carlisle
Black Grape - 15 November 2018 Thursday - Guildhall, Gloucester
Black Grape - 16 November 2018 Friday - Concorde 2, Brighton
Black Grape - 22 November 2018 Thursday - Academy, Glasgow
Black Grape - 23 November 2018 Friday - Riverside, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Black Grape - 24 November 2018 Saturday - King George's Hall, Blackburn
Black Grape - 29 November 2018 Thursday - Academy, Bristol
Black Grape - 30 November 2018 Friday - Engine Rooms, Southampton
2019
January 2019 - Shaun Ryder publishes lyrics collection "Wrote for Luck"
Notes: Faber published Wrote for Luck in their lyrics collection series, which also published anthologies of works by Kate Bush, Jarvis Cocker and Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant.
It features the lyrics to 30 of Ryder’s songs.
2019 - Shaun Ryder loses his hair through alopecia.
Notes: He says it happened because he was forced to stop using the testosterone gel prescribed for his underactive thyroid.
10 May 2021 - The G2 Interview, Mon 10 May 2021 11.00 BST by Tim Jonze: “My blood cells were all turning white or turning red or whatever,” he says, with perhaps not 100% medical authority. “I think the specialist must have panicked because she didn’t want the stroke of a celebrity on her hands. So they stopped it, and within a week I had no beard, no hair, no hair on my body, the lot! But now the testosterone is back at the normal level and I’m getting these long wiry hairs that I have to shave every three weeks. But that’s from the testosterone, not Covid. Or it could be the fruit.”
From 17 August 2019 Saturday 14.00 BST theguardian website, Interview by James McMahon: There was a period of my life where it felt like everyone was worried about my health. I’m doing great these days. That said, I just had a hip operation and all my hair has fallen out. My eyebrows, my eyelashes, my pubic hair, armpit hair – even my fingernails. The doctors don’t know what it is. I have an underactive thyroid and I don’t make testosterone, so I reckon it might be something to do with that. But I’m tough. If I was Peter Andre or someone, I wouldn’t leave the house.
2019 - Shaun is diagnoised with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Notes: Three of his daughters have the condition too.
2019 - Bez stood for MP in Salford / Eccles for his own political party 'The Reality Party' again
Notes: The Reality Party started in 2015, it's main ajenda was anti-fracking. Bez soon stood down after mixed reviews and a series of death threats being sent to him.
Article Bez Interview written by Mark Millar for XSNOIZE.com: You stood for the Salford and Eccles area with your own political party named 'The Reality Party.' Why did you decide to go into politics?
Bez: The main reason why I stood was because of the fracking issue. I found it horrifying that one of the ways we can feed and look after ourselves in the future was about to be destroyed. But trying to explain to people what being an anarchist means was really hard work. I was giving it the right, I was giving it the left, and no one could understand why I was giving to everybody, do you know what I mean? And that's because I was fighting for freedom as well. I wanted to see the end to the banking system, and I was getting people from the left telling me how disappointed they are with me, and I was getting death threats from the right - you know what I mean? (Laughs) It was a mad experience. The main thing is, although I was unsuccessful with the political side of things, we were really successful at raising awareness of the fracking issue, so some good came out of it. It was an experience I'm glad I had.
09 January 2019 - Bez appears on Blood On The Tracks BBC Radio Show
Notes: Poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Bez from Happy Mondays, actress Michaela Coel and former Elvis impersonator turned comic actor Mike Bubbins choose songs that will get everyone dancing.
Bez was asked by Colin Murray for a song that will guarantee everyone gets up to dance, the best live performance he'd ever seen, about emotional songs, a modern-day classic that will be beloved twenty five years from now, and their greatest song under two minutes.
Official: MP3 BBC Download
Shaun Ryder
Paul Ryder - Bass
Mark Day - Guitar
Gary Whelan - Drums/Percussion
Rowetta - Vocals
Mark 'Bez' Berry
? - Keyboards
27 February 2019 Wednesday - The Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand
Notes: Sold Out Show.
28 February 2019 Thursday - The Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand
Kinky Afro / God’s Cap / Donovan / Grandbag’s Funeral / Loose Fit / Dennis & Lois / Bob’s Yer Uncle / Step On / Holiday / Harmony / Hallelujah / 24 Hour Party People
Notes: Sold Out Show. Ivan Karczewski took photos for the media.
01 March 2019 - 13thfloor.co.nz Marty Duda, Concert Review: Happy Mondays - Powerstation February 28, 2019. A classic British band reunited…their breakthrough album played in its entirety…two sold-out shows at the best venue in town…should make for a killer Thursday night out, right? Yeah, nah. Happy Mondays played the second of their two sold out shows at Auckland’s Powerstation, focusing on their 1990 album Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, although playing the album from beginning to end seemed to come as a surprise to vocalist Shaun Ryder, despite the fact they had just done the same set the previous night. I guess we can excuse Shaun for a bit of confusion given the amount of substances that the now-56-year-old singer has injested over the past 35 years. I’m not sure I can be so lenient when it comes to his singing, though. It was often atrocious. Fortunately, vocalist Rowetta was on hand to hold things together, and her presence on stage made the evening bearable.
The band itself consists of Shaun’s brother Paul on bass, who played fine, but looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on stage with these guys. Guitarist Mark Day did his part, as did drummer Gary Whelan, although there were times during the early part of the set where they seemed to briefly lose their groove… which is all there is to most Happy Mondays songs, so that can be a problem. Original keyboard player Paul Davis wisely went AWOL a few years back, and the guy replacing him seemed to do little than push ‘play’ for the backing tracks. Then there’s the issue of Mark “Bez” Berry, much beloved dancer, maraca player and close friend to Shaun.
I know that Mondays fans love Bez’s schtick, and he may have been charming 30 years ago, but watching him march around on stage was nothing but annoying. He seems to have one dance move and that’s it. There’s no point to his maraca playing as he is usually nowhere near a microphone…that is unless he has something inane to say to his buddy Shaun.
The crowd did their best to have a good time, and I’ll bet many of them did, after all there was loud music, alcohol and about 1000 people there ready to have fun. But as for me, I wasn’t moved in the slightest. This looked and sounded like a money grab. I mean, they barely made 24 Hour Party People danceable. One of the worst shows I’ve seen and heard. The only good thing I can say was that it was very short. And I didn’t hear anyone complaining when they finished after only an hour and change.
Marty Duda
02 March 2019 - Omega Auctions, Stockport
Notes: Various items went up for auction from Peter Hook. Part of the Peter Hook Signature Collection included a 1987 Happy Mondays Factory Records tour date list.
Shaun Ryder
Paul Ryder (Bass)
Mark Day (Guitar)
Bez (Bez)
Gary Whelan (Drums)
Rowetta (Vocals)
Dan Broad (Keyboardist and Musical Director)
02 March 2019 Saturday - Astor Theatre, Perth
Notes: Tickets went on sale Friday 26 October 2018. Press articles noted the band would play Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches in full at each show.
03 March 2019 Sunday - HQ, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Notes: Tickets went on sale Friday 26 October 2018. Press articles noted the band would play Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches in full at each show.
07 March 2019 Thursday - Eatons Hill Hotel & Function Centre, Eatons Hill, QLD, Australia
Notes: Tickets went on sale Friday 26 October 2018. Press articles noted the band would play Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches in full at each show.
08 March 2019 Friday - Enmore Theatre, Newtown, NSW, Australia
Notes: Tickets went on sale Friday 26 October 2018. Press articles noted the band would play Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches in full at each show.
09 March 2019 Saturday - Forum Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Notes: Tickets went on sale Friday 26 October 2018. Press articles noted the band would play Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches in full at each show.
10 March 2019 Sunday - GoldenPlains 2019, Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, Meredith, Victoria, Australia
Beach House / Happy Mondays / Four Tet / Confidence Man / The Internet / The Jesus and Mary Chain / DJ Harvey / Marlon Williams / Magic Dirt / Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. / Liz Phair / Khruangbin / Amp Fiddler / Gregor / Hatchie / Honey / Raw Humps / DRMNGNOW / Flohio / The Living Eyes / Danny Krivit / Shannon & The Clams / SK SImeon
Black Grape - 25 March 2019 Friday - Tramshed, Cardiff
Black Grape - 16 March 2019 Saturday - Rock City, Nottingham
Black Grape - 22 March 2019 Friday - Plug, Sheffield
Black Grape - 23 March 2019 Saturday - Esquires, Bedford
Black Grape - 28 March 2019 Thursday - Sub89, Reading
Black Grape - 29 March 2019 Friday - The Mill, Digbeth
(Incomplete set) In the Name of The Father / Tramazi Party / Reverend Black Grape / Pop Voodoo / Nine Lives / Set The Grass On Fire / Shake Well Before Opening / Kelly’s Heroes / Little Bob
Notes: Sold Out Show. Shaun introduces Pop Voodoo as Pot Noodle.
From brumlive.com, Chris Bowley review edited by Mark Veitch: Black Grape @ The Mill, 29 March 2019. It would seem my first impressions of my first visit to The Mill had not been a fluke, because once again, tonight, door staff, bar staff, and security were particularly friendly and helpful. It’s a cracking medium sized venue that we have here and whilst I’m led to believe it’s a sell-out, it is comfortably full. It is a happy vibe in here with a good mixture of youth and craggy faced late 80s near-casualties. Probably the craggiest of the survivors is Shaun Ryder himself. Taking to the stage in almost head to foot black including cap and glasses he has noticeably more timber on his frame than the last time I saw him, but then don’t most of us at this age. My companion at this point describes him as looking “like someone’s Dad has just walked on stage”. There endeth the likeness to someone’s Dad.
Bang, ‘In the Name of The Father” kicks us off and the dual Duracell bunnies that are Kermit and Shaun are off bouncing lyrics back and forth harder than a power ball wanged around in the school corridor. That in essence is what we have for all their drug referencing manc lad swagger… a pair of school kids playing up, bouncing words off each other and generally messing around in class. It appeals to the mainly male audience who’ve done the grown-up thing but still want to be kids. The lyrics maybe X-rated but the sense of teenage banter that the main pair throw around is infectious PG-rated and the audience lap it up.
There is a dutiful mixture of crowd-pleasing oldies, from the previously mentioned opener, to ‘Tramazi Party’, ‘Reverend Black Grape’, through to the disco funk groove tracks from “the new album”, ‘Pop Voodoo’. “Well, we released it in 2017 but we’re still selling it as the new one”, tells Ryder, as they lay into the of the title, renamed for us as ‘Pot Noodle’. It’s tracks like this that ensure that they have eclipsed any lazy drug band references. They can lay down an infectious groove that gets every pair of trainer adorned feet moving.
As a band they play as greater than the sum of the parts, but special mention has to go the bassist. He makes the instrument seems a doddle to play as his right-hand pumps out bouncing, funk lines of tumbling yet solid notes while making it look effortless. Disco lines in ‘Pot Noodle’s, sorry, ‘Pop Voodoo’s ‘Nine Lives’ have an understated solidness and the laidback gospel soul blues of ‘Set the Grass on Fire’ show a different side to the Parliament/Funkadelic bounce of the first album. Overall though, it is a band that know that they are not the stars of the show. That privilege it for Kermit and Shaun.
Kermit is like a man twenty years less than his age. Is he really fifty? He dances, twists and turns and generally moves from start to finish of the set. A full-on grin from ear to ear and way over there, adorns his face constantly. Whilst slower paced ‘Shake Well Before Opening’ allows a breather, it also allows them to keep some in reserve for ‘Kelly’s Heroes’ and full paced set closer ‘Little Bob’ which booms and bangs along at a fair whack. As Kermit and Shaun leave the stage at what could be the close of ‘Little Bob’ you might expect the band to quickly wind it down, for what is a band without its two protagonists. However, we are treated to the band letting loose without the distractions of the magnet personas of the main men. They play the jazz rock wig-out of the recorded track with vigour and verve, showing what a truly great band of musicians can do to back up two great singers. This performance had it all apart from the overblown frills that too many other bands rely on to get them through. The grooves, the street-smart lyrics and two great preachers are all that you need for a great show. A rip-roaring night and no mistake.
Black Grape - 04 April 2019 Thursday - The Garage, Glasgow * Support Act(s): Dope Sick Fly
Notes: Poster noted 'Shaun Ryder's Black Grape'
Black Grape - 05 April 2019 Friday - Liquid Room, Edinburgh * Support Act(s): Dope Sick Fly
Notes: Poster noted 'Shaun Ryder's Black Grape'
DJ Paul Ryder - 19 April 2019 - Studio 9294, London * Supporting: Mark Jenkyns, Pirate Copy, Aaran D, Tennan, Versus, Mizbee, 2Involved, Alex Cima, Boon, Brutherlands, Chris Whittaker, Costello, Danny Buckley, Forester, Jefton, Joe Le Groove, Minno
DJ Paul Ryder - 04 May 2019 - Ministry of Sound, London * Supporting: DJ SKT, GotSome, Johnny Bloomfield, Artifact96, RAFE, Brian Smith, Scot Mochan, J.Rayner, Lee Gardner, J.Macree, Masson, Curt Lynes, Halvo, Robin G, Iwizz, Jamie S, Raw 3qenci, K.Coleman, Howden, Skanton, Dougz
DJ Paul Ryder - 15 June 2019 - The Horns, Watford * Supporting: Franky Mac, Andy S, Lukey P
11 July 2019 Thursday - Scenic Stage - Dreamland, Margate
13 July 2019 Saturday - Scenic Stage - Dreamland, Margate
16 July 2019 Article written by Mark Millar for XSNOIZE.com:
INTERVIEW: Happy Mondays' Bez - “Bees remind me of myself - they have a short attention span, and they are always buzzing!”
Legendary Manchester band Happy Mondays have announced a marathon twenty-nine date Greatest Hits Tour for October, November and December 2019 which includes Belfast Limelight 1 on Wed 4th Dec.
The Happy Mondays’ classic line-up of frontman Shaun Ryder, Bez (freaky dancing and percussion), Rowetta (vocals), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Ryder (bass), Mark Day (guitar) and and Dan Broad (MD/guitar/keys) will perform timeless hits such as Step On, Kinky Afro, Hallelujah, W.F.L., Loose Fit, Judge Fudge and 24 Hour Party People, amongst many others. Mark Millar caught up with the legendary freaky dancer, Bez to talk about the tour, his love of bees, Factory records and more.
Happy Mondays go on a marathon twenty-nine date Greatest Hits Tour for October, November and December 2019.
Did you ever think you would see the day that the classic Mondays line-up would be on tour again?
Bez: We all split up after the 'Yes Please' album, but at that time me and Shaun fought tooth and nail to keep the band together. The sad thing is money and success always seem to have a diverse effect on the band, which is quite sad really, so me and Shaun went on to form Black Grape, then there was a period after that when we carried on as the Happy Mondays without the original line-up. Then we all got back together, and we have been going quite a while now with the original band - we are in such a lucky position to be able to carry on as we are and do what we love best.
Are you all getting on well now?
Bez: Yeah, we all get on a lot better than we used to because we all appreciate what we’ve got now, and we realize that we are in a fortunate position and need to get along with each other.
How does the band relax and unwind after a gig now that you are older and wiser?
Bez: I can't speak for everybody else, but my lifestyle hasn’t changed that much. I relax by working in the garden - that's my relaxation these days, and of course, I go out for the odd pint. It's not changed too much from when I was younger; I still enjoy the things I used to do. I grow my own food and live a more sustainable lifestyle than I did before. I live in the countryside now, but apart from that, I live the life that I've always lived.
Where did your love of looking after Bees come from?
Bez: I’ve been away a lot recently, and I lost a swarm of bees which I’m trying to retrieve. I love looking after bees; they remind me of myself - they have a short attention span, and they are always buzzing!
Talking about buzzing looking back, what are your favourite memories from the early days of the Mondays?
Bez: The two times that always stand out for me were when we got to play Rock in Rio in Brazil, and we were in a hotel with Guns N Roses, and we were there for five days - it was a great stand out time. We got to spend time with the great train robber Ronnie Biggs, who made sure we were all sorted. Yeah, we got up to all sorts of debauched behaviour – that was one of my favourite times on tour.
And the other time was when we got to spend time with The Embera Tribe in Panama, in South America when we made the programme 'Singing in the Rainforest' - that was another great memorable standout memory for me.
You got into all sorts of scrapes over the years with the Mondays. What is the most exaggerated story you have heard?
Bez: Well, I’ll say there is no smoke without fire, but there have been myths going about - I have heard things about myself that I can't think off the top of my head, but I know they definitely never happened. You hear all sorts of stories, and a lot of them have turned into urban myths.
Was recording 'Yes Please' in Barbados possibly the maddest time in the Monday's?
Bez: It was quite a mad time then, but it was also a great time as well because we had eight weeks in Barbados. The funny thing was when we got to the island, all the leading dignitaries came out to meet us and invited us for a meal. Because it's such a small place, everyone from the mayor right through to the chief of police all knew us – so I think we made quite a wave there. It was completely bonkers but also really enjoyable as well. We don’t have any regrets, and for me, it was one of those times that I’ll never forget – we had such a great time. We are so fortunate and lucky to have done the things that we've done, and it was a great experience for us.
The 'Yes Please’ album didn’t sell very well and was blamed on the fall of Factory records. What do you think of the album all these years later?
Bez: I disagree with that - the collapse of Factory wasn’t down to us. Factory was expanding so quickly, and there was pressure on us and New Order at the time to get these new albums out, to pay to keep Factory running, so to blame the Happy Mondays is a bit unfair really – it was over-expansion on other people’s parts. I thought that 'Yes Please' was a very good album - we wanted Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osbourne to produce the album, and they weren’t available at the time. Everybody expected 'Yes Please’ to have more of the same Dance and rock n roll cross over style as the album before, but we went with Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who did more of an old fashioned production, but I think it’s a good record. I think 'Yes Please' was a stepping stone to the future because Kermit was on the song 'Cut Em Loose Bruce,’ from the album, and then Shaun and he worked together on the Black Grape record, and that turned into a very successful partnership.
In 2016, the Happy Mondays won the Ivor Novello’s Inspiration Award, further cementing their reputation as one of Britain’s most influential and loved bands. Why do you think people still love the music after all these years?
Bez: I think we were just fortunate to be part of Factory records and to be part of the old record industry before it started dying off. And because we are the last of the early scene and nothing else has come along replace it, that’s’ why we have managed to survive all these years later.
Will there be any new music in the future from the Happy Mondays?
Bez: You can never say never - I still think we can produce some good songs, but whether we will ever be chart-toppers again is another question, because the young people today don't know who we are, and have never heard of us, so it would have to be an unbelievable tune. We are all reaching our mid-fifties, but it would be nice to make new music so that we have got some new songs to play and freshen up the set a bit - I really hope we bring some new music out it would be really nice.
When do you think the time will come when you stop dancing on stage and out the maracas down for good?
Bez: I have been threatening to pack it in, but at the moment I’m still fit and healthy to do it. For me, my biggest problem is I’ve left it too late in life for a career change, so you can’t teach old dog new tricks, so I’ll have to go on for as long as I can possibly do it for.
You stood for the Salford and Eccles area with your own political party named 'The Reality Party.' Why did you decide to go into politics?
Bez: The main reason why I stood was because of the fracking issue. I found it horrifying that one of the ways we can feed and look after ourselves in the future was about to be destroyed. But trying to explain to people what being an anarchist means was really hard work. I was giving it the right, I was giving it the left, and no one could understand why I was giving to everybody, do you know what I mean? And that's because I was fighting for freedom as well. I wanted to see the end to the banking system, and I was getting people from the left telling me how disappointed they are with me, and I was getting death threats from the right - you know what I mean? (Laughs) It was a mad experience. The main thing is, although I was unsuccessful with the political side of things, we were really successful at raising awareness of the fracking issue, so some good came out of it. It was an experience I'm glad I had.
Do you think you will ever follow up your autobiography 'Freaky Dancin'?
Bez: Yeah, one day I definitely will do, but not at the moment, because I've still got a few more years of living to go. I don’t know if anyone would be interested in reading another part to it, but I will consider it. It's one of them tasks when you take it on you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to do really. It's over twenty-odd years since I wrote that one, and a lot has happened since then up until now, but I've definitely got some funny stories I could tell.
17 July 2019 - Steve Wright’s Big Guests, BBC Radio 2
Notes: The Prof talks Stargazing Moon Landings and Shaun Ryder in on tour with the Mondays
Official: MP3 BBC Download
19 July 2019 Friday - The Big Park Festival, Amersham * Support Act(s): Craig David *
20 July 2019 Saturday - Pennfest 2019, Penn Street, Amersham
21 July 2019 Sunday - Tramlines 2019, Hillsborough Park, Sheffield * Two Door Cinema Club / Lewis Capaldi / Rag'n'Bone Man / Nile Rodgers / Manic Street Preachers / Doves / Chic / Becky Hill / The Japanese House / Miles Kane / The Courteeners / Circa Waves / Happy Mondays / The Futureheads / Tom Grennan / Johnny Marr / Reverend and The Makers / Easy Life / Jade Bird / The Rifles / Shame / Drenge / Jaws / Sea Girls / Sleeper / Clean Cut Kid / Bloxx / Sports Team / Peter Hook & The Light / She Drew The Gun / Anteros / Marsicans / Himalayas / Annie Mac / whenyoung / Codes In the Clouds / Another Sky / The Reytons / Casey Lowry / Red Rum Club / Blackwaters / Balcony / Man & The Echo / PLANET (AUS) / Oddity Road / The Everly Pregnant Brothers / October Drift / GOOD COP BAD COP / Hey Charlie / Wired / The Estevans / The Seamonsters / The Rosadocs / Children Of The State / Cora Pearl
25 July 2019 Thursday - Sunday 28 July 2019 - Y Not Festival 2019, Aston Hill Farm, Matlock
25 July 2019 - 28 July 2019 - YNOT Festival, Y NOT? Festival, Pikehall, Derby, Derbyshire
IDLES / Anteros / Black Honey / Foals / Wolf Alice / Two Door Cinema Club / Sports Team / Franz Ferdinand / Ten Tonnes / Sunflower Bean / The Pigeon Detectives / White Lies / The Blinders / Indoor Pets / Sea Girls / Happy Mondays / YAK
Black Grape - July 2019 - Camp Bestival 2019, East Lulworth
Black Grape - 02 August 2019 Friday - Summer Series, Millennium Square, Leeds
DJ Paul Ryder - 03-04 August 2019 - Eastern Electrics MK, Morden Park, London * Supporting: Elvin Zedo, Hannah Wants, Kenny Dope, Orbital
08 August 2019 Thursday - Sunday 11 August 2019 - Lakefest 2019, Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Eastnor
17 August 2019 Saturday - Taunton Racecourse, Taunton * Support Act(s): Razorlight, Sophie Ellis-Bextor *
From 17 August 2019 Saturday 14.00 BST theguardian website, Interview by James McMahon: Shaun Ryder: ‘I’m a really good dad, this time around anyway’
The Happy Mondays singer discusses UFOs, coming off drugs, children, Bez and losing his hair.
There was a period of my life where it felt like everyone was worried about my health. I’m doing great these days. That said, I just had a hip operation and all my hair has fallen out. My eyebrows, my eyelashes, my pubic hair, armpit hair – even my fingernails. The doctors don’t know what it is. I have an underactive thyroid and I don’t make testosterone, so I reckon it might be something to do with that. But I’m tough. If I was Peter Andre or someone, I wouldn’t leave the house.
Men don’t have to grow up like women do. Women are expected to grow up with every year that passes. Men can get away with being kids until they’re at least 40 – I did. I was still living the same lifestyle I had been when I was 16. But I wasn’t a kid any more. The stuff I’d done when I was younger – drugs – had to go. My kids were getting older. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass them.
I think I’m a really good dad. This time around anyway. I’ve got kids who are hitting 30. I was a kid having kids when I had them, and I said things and let them see things that I shouldn’t have. But since I started again – I’ve now got a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old – I have become a proper dad. The idea of drugs or that kind of lifestyle isn’t something that comes anywhere near them. We don’t even have any booze in our house. We won’t let our kids go to a children’s party if it’s in a pub.
I don’t really regret anything about my youth. I was never an intravenous-drug user and I didn’t have to make the same choices a lot of my friends had to make. I never had to choose between heroin and paying my bills. I never had to choose between drugs and food or clothes or toothpaste. I was lucky.
I’ve never cared about being indie or cool. I wanted to be on Top of the Pops. Go back to the mid-80s. The Mondays were talking to Piers Morgan. None of the other bands in the scene were doing that because it wasn’t cool, but we were just so desperate not to have to go get a job in McDonald’s. I was desperate not to live in poverty. It’s why I ended up doing I’m a Celebrity in 2010. I’d seen what Big Brother had done for Bez. A man who was previously best known for playing the maracas and dancing on stage in an indie band had suddenly become the most famous man in Manchester, if not the country. I wanted some of that. I didn’t mind them making me look like a cunt if it helped me to keep on doing this.
I don’t have time for people who don’t believe in UFOs. It isn’t a case of “Do you believe?” It’s fact! The evidence is out there. It’s been there for years. Go find it! The government believes in it; they said it all in Project Blue Book in the 60s.
Gaz Whelan - 30 August 2019 Friday - Shiiine On presents Gaz Whelan Undrugged Set, The Fellowship and Star, Randlesdown Road, South East London * Doors Open: 20:00-01:00 * Support Act(s): Steve Adj
Notes: Gaz Whelan Acoustic show. The shows ticket included a free drink too.
From Shiiine On Blog: We recently spoke to Happy Mondays drummer & co founder of the band Gaz Whelan , Gaz will be playing a very rare acoustic “Undrugged“ set of Mondays classics along with the odd surprise cover version!
From facebook promotion: Opening proceedings is the man known as "Adj" who will be in Conversation. Adj is often considered to be the 5th Stone Roses such is his bond with the band. Adj will tell stories about the Roses from the early Warehouse parties he set up to the Second Coming. He is truly one of life's great raconteurs. Simon from Bromley's The Belles will also perform ahead of his bands performance at this years weekender.
Black Grape - August/September 2019 - Cool Britannia 2019, Knebworth
September 2019 - Twisting My Melon - The Shaun Ryder Movie biopic is planned.
Notes: Based on the autobiography, of the same name, the movie was planned to be recorded in 2020 but the filming was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the project lost momentum. Director Matt Greenhalgh did not make any futhur comments regarding the film.
Jason Isaacs and Maxine Peake were in casting talks to star as Ryder’s parents. Jack O’Connell was asked to play Shaun.
From 06 September 2019 13.54 BST Friday Guardian article by Tom Knight:
Jack O’Connell is set to play Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in new biopic Twisting My Melon. The film, based on Ryder’s autobiography, will track the singer’s journey from a guitar-loving child to a leading light of Madchester’s party scene. Fans of the TV show Skins will know that O’Connell is comfortable in a rave setting, having already starred as rebel hedonist Cook in his breakout TV role. O’Connell will next be seen in Hope Dickson Leach’s the Cradle and Kiké Maíllo’s Love Is a Gun. He is also set to play Alexander McQueen in Andrew Haigh’s biopic of the fashion designer. Jason Isaacs, fresh from Star Trek and The OA, is in negotiations to play Ryder’s father, Derek, who was apparently dubbed “Horseman” to prevent his kids calling him “dad” in public, and is said to be the inspiration behind the Happy Monday’s song Kinky Afro. Maxine Peake is in talks to star as Ryder’s mother.
Director Matt Greenhalgh said: “Shaun and the last true working-class band – the Happy Mondays – mainlined into my musical DNA when I was 16 years old … Ryder is the son of John Lennon, Johnny Rotten with a few kilos of John Belushi stamped in.” Production is set to begin in January.
11 September 2019 10:30am - Happy Mondays Bummed Demos are auctioned at Omega Auctions, Sankey Valley Industrial Estate, Newton-Le-Willows, WA12 8DN
Notes: Lot 111 of 1232: HAPPY MONDAYS BUMMED DEMOS, Description: A Maxell cassette with handwritten notes to sleeve in A side column reading 'Happy Mondays "Bummed" FACT 220 and to B side 'Happy Mondays Demos'. Typed note accompanying CD version of the cassette details tracklisting with the A side of cassette to play the finished tracks from the Bummed album sessions between August - Sept 1988 and side two to include seven demo versions of tracks.
Shaun Ryder - September 2019 Saturday - An Evening with Shaun Ryder, Riverside, Newcastle
Notes: An Evening with Shaun Ryder including Q&A Session. The first half of the evening sees Creation Records legend/Shaun's manager Alan McGee ask the 'set' questions.
From nationalrockreview.com 12 October 2019 Adam Kennedy Review: An Evening with Shaun Ryder at the Riverside Newcastle. Whilst concerts by their very nature are largely structured, staged and controlled by the performer – as part of his current UK tour, Shaun Ryder has decided to cut that safety net to a certain extent and pass back the control to the audience. This unconventional approach could create somewhat of a terrifying experience for both parties involved. For the fans to have the confidence to stand up in front of a crowd and delve into Shaun Ryder’s fame or persona, and on the other hand for the artist himself to have to answer probing questions in front of a room full of strangers. And with a packed out crowd in attendance at Riverside Newcastle, our favourite night of the weekend becomes a Happy Saturday indeed. And whilst this may not necessarily be the first time an artist has been questioned on stage in front of a room full of fans, Ryder’s approach is certainly different and entirely refreshing.
The first half of the evening sees Creation Records legend Alan McGee poise questions to Ryder. And having managed the Monday’s frontman for some time, he certainly knows which areas to probe to make the show interesting to those in attendance. However, once that baton or microphone is passed in this instance to a hall full of super fans, the artist must expect the unexpected.
Have you ever wondered how Shaun Ryder would approach Brexit, solve Newcastle United’s woes, or his thoughts on appearing in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here? Then this is the event for you. This evening no topic is deemed too off the wall, and it’s fair to say that the Newcastle crowd don’t hold anything back. And despite the sometimes personal nature of these topics, the Manchester legend remains cool, calm and collected throughout. The beauty of tonight’s event is that everyone in attendance takes something different away from the proceedings. Whether that be insight, advice, or a more permanent souvenir such as a selfie, a treasured autograph or a prime position on the stage near the man himself. This evening’s q and a was certainly enjoyable as much as it was inspiring.
14 September 2019 Saturday - Visor Fest 2019, Auditorio Julio Iglesias, Benidorm, Alicante, Spain * Supporting: James *
James / Nada Surf / Happy Mondays / Lightning Seeds / The House of Love / Buffalo Tom / New Model Army / Surfin' Bichos
October 2019 - The Egg 2 Track Promo CD-r is circulated.
The Egg (Radio Edit) 2:57
The Egg (Full Length Mix) 5:01
Notes: The only CD source for the Egg. Includes an unique radio edit and the full length mix too.
Peter Fowler, renowned for his work with Super Furry Animals and Heavenly Records, created an animated promo video for 'The Egg' too.
From The Egg 2 track London Recordings Promo 'The Egg. Impact: 15 November 2019. London Records are to release Happy Mondays 'The Early Eps' on October 25, available digitally and as a 4 x 12" coloured vinyl box set. The release brings together the seminal Manchester band's first four EPs - 'Forty Five EP' (1985), 'Freaky Dancin/The Egg EP' (1986), 'Tart Tart EP' (1987) and '24 Hour Party People' (1987). Leading UK Artist Peter Fowler, inteernationally renowned for his work with Super Furry Animals and Heavenly Records, has created a new animated video for lost Mondays classic 'The Egg'. The track is also available as an instant grat with pre-orders of the 'Eps. 'The Early Eps', which have never before been available digitally, have been re-mastered from the original two-inch tapes held at Factory/London Records archive. The artwork has been redrawn and digitised by original designers Grand Central Design. The original Happy Mondays line-up will embark on a UK headline tour in October, including London's Roundhouse (Oct 31). London Records will follow this release later this year with vinyl reissues of Happy Mondays first four albums - 'Squirrel and G-man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)', 'Bummed', 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches' & 'Yes Please!' - later this year. None of these albums have been available on vinyl for over a decade. David Winterburn DWPR: 07733 334520 , david@dw-pr.co.uk '
Greatest Hits Tour
Shaun Ryder - Voice
Bez - Bez
Rowetta - Vocals
Gary Whelan - Drums
Paul Ryder - Bass
Mark Day - Guitar
Dan Broad - MD/Guitar/Keyboard
23 October 2019 Wednesday - Ironworks, Inverness, Scotland
Notes:
06 August 2019 - Happy Mondays - Interview with Shaun Ryder by Richard Lewis from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 6 / 8 / 2019: With their gigs showcasing the band in rude health, venturing into the recording studio remains a possibility. “With the Mondays you’ve got like fucking five different heads all saying this and doing things so it’s difficult to get things together,” Shaun says of the band’s democratic decision making. “But yeah, I’m never going to say no about doing another Mondays album.”
24 October 2019 Thursday - Music Hall, Aberdeen, Scotland
Intro / Kinky Afro / Tart Tart / Loose Fit / Hallelujah / Step On / Rave On
25 October 2019 - The Early E.P's is released in the U.K.
London Records
4 x Coloured 12inch Boxset
Forty Five EP
A: Delightful (Remastered)
B1: This Feeling (Remastered)
B2: Oasis (Remastered)
Freaky Dancin/The Egg EP
A: Freaky Dancin' (Live) (Remastered)
B1: The Egg (Mix) (Remastered)
B2: Freaky Dancin'(Remastered)
Tart Tart EP
A: Tart Tart (Remastered)
B1: Little Matchstick Owen (Remastered)
24 Hour Party People EP
A: 24 Hour Party People (Remastered)
B1: Yahoo (Remastered)
B2: Wah Wah (Think Tank) (Remastered)
Notes:
From The Egg 2 track London Recordings Promo 'The Egg. Impact: 15 November 2019. London Records are to release Happy Mondays 'The Early Eps' on October 25, available digitally and as a 4 x 12" coloured vinyl box set. The release brings together the seminal Manchester band's first four EPs - 'Forty Five EP' (1985), 'Freaky Dancin/The Egg EP' (1986), 'Tart Tart EP' (1987) and '24 Hour Party People' (1987). Leading UK Artist Peter Fowler, internationally renowned for his work with Super Furry Animals and Heavenly Records, has created a new animated video for lost Mondays classic 'The Egg'. The track is also available as an instant grat with pre-orders of the 'Eps. 'The Early Eps', which have never before been available digitally, have been re-mastered from the original two-inch tapes held at Factory/London Records archive. The artwork has been redrawn and digitised by original designers Grand Central Design. The original Happy Mondays line-up will embark on a UK headline tour in October, including London's Roundhouse (Oct 31). London Records will follow this release later this year with vinyl reissues of Happy Mondays first four albums - 'Squirrel and G-man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)', 'Bummed', 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches' & 'Yes Please!' - later this year. None of these albums have been available on vinyl for over a decade. David Winterburn DWPR: 07733 334520 , david@dw-pr.co.uk '
06 August 2019 - Happy Mondays - Interview with Shaun Ryder by Richard Lewis from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 6 / 8 / 2019 "With such a rich seam of work going neglected is there any chance the Mondays’ early material will appear as part of a box set?
“Oh God yeah, they’ve got some idea about putting that out” Shaun replies on the phone from his base near Manchester. “I’ve said yeah, they can do it. They are bringing some sort of really, really old shit out. There’s stuff due because I’ve just agreed to do the interviews and press for it.” “It’s me learning to write, basically, ” Shaun says of the group’s early manoeuveres in 1985-7. “We really got on vinyl too early as well,” the singer says modestly. “Because of who we knew and because we got (first manager) Phil Saxe who was great friends with (New Order manager) Rob Gretton and all that lot, including (future M-People mainman) Mike Pickering before we knew it we were making records. I’d only just started writing. I’m learning as I’m making fucking records! Like I say, I got the job writing because I was the best of the bunch.
So, all that early stuff, your mistakes are on record, all that stuff’s there. It’s like having everyone look at your homework! It’s learning isn’t it?” he reasons. “At first with songwriting I’m thinking you have to sort of write songs that say ‘I love you’ and ‘You do this’ and all that lot. And it was like, ‘Hang on a minute, I can write about fucking anything.’ You know what I mean? So, it was all work in progress”.
25 October 2019 Friday - Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline, Scotland * Doors: * Ticket Price: * Support Act(s):
26 October 2019 Saturday - Academy Glasgow, Scotland * Doors: * Ticket Price: * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Da Silva, Fat Cops *
Intro / Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Clap Your Hands / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: Ian Georgeson took photos for the media. Fat Cops included Al Murray, aka the Pub Landlord, on drums, Robert Hodgens, aka Bobby Bluebell, on guitar and Neil Murray, aka Mr JK Rowling, on keyboards.
28 October 2019, 13:57 BST scotsman.com, The Newsroom, Fiona Shepherd Music review: Happy Mondays, O2 Academy, Glasgow.
The opening number of Happy Mondays’ current set, Kinky Afro, features a frank exchange of views between a father and son. But there was more evidence of generations being bridged at this show by one of the key bands of the “Madchester” indie rave era. Fans who would not have been born when the immortal epithet “you’re twisting my melons man” was first uttered mingled with men and women of a certain age reliving their party past in controlled circumstances.
In this context, Fat Cops were a shrewd choice of opening act. This motley supergroup, featuring Al Murray, aka the Pub Landlord, on drums, Robert Hodgens, aka Bobby Bluebell, on guitar and Neil Murray, aka Mr JK Rowling, on keyboards, are living out their mid-life crisis in unabashed style, with a catchy set of punk, garage and indie songs about hanging out, getting your kicks and other adolescent pursuits. The indie funk of Hands Up! Get Down! provided a taster of what was to come in the headline set while a hint of mortality crept in with a burst of the Jim Carroll Band’s rocking requiem People Who Died.
While some members of the party-Happy Mondays are probably lucky to be alive, there are no questions over the longevity of their idiosyncratic music which anchored the traditional element of chaos and confusion in their performance.
Frontman Shaun Ryder performed with baseball cap pulled down over his face like he was constantly trying to avoid detection, in contrast to singer Rowetta twirling her cheerleader tassels and wingman Bez, shaking his maracas with alacrity and breaking out his signature dance moves with the glee of a man who knows he has the best job in the world.
A mangled version of Donovan, the wah-wah funk of God’s Cop and snake-hipped groove, house rhythm and acid guitar of Loose Fit were all drawn from their hit third album, Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, but earlier tracks such as Clap Your Hands and the classic 24 Hour Party People were a reminder that Happy Mondays always took the music, if not themselves seriously.
Rainbow lasers beamed across the heads of the crowd as they raved on through the ecstatic Hallelujah and irresistible Step On. These days though, the all-night party has been truncated to a trim ninety minutes, culminating in Wrote For Luck before things got too messy.
31 October 2019 Thursday - The Roundhouse, Camden, London * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Da Silva *
Intro / Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / The Egg / Wrote For Luck
Notes: Date taken from The Egg 2 Track CD-r promo. Mike Garnell tooks photos for the media, photos appeared on theupcoming.co.uk website.
from theupcoming.co.uk, Grace Walsh Review: Happy Mondays at the Roundhouse.
Perhaps it was Halloween excitement or Brexit-related relief, but as the audience filed into Camden’s Roundhouse so did a mood of excitement and anticipation. Happy Mondays’ Greatest Hits Tour had come to London, complete with lead singer Shaun Ryder and the ever-rhythmic Mark “Bez” Berry.
No doubt in honour of the band’s Madchester legacy, bouncing lights and spinning shapes accompany the group onto stage and follow them through the set. While this might have been radical in the rave scene of the late 80s, in 2019 it comes off as nostalgic at best. The opening riff of fan favourite Kinky Afro sets the crowd moving, spilling pints aplenty with arms in the air. Ryder is pulled through the song by accompanying singer and long-time band member Rowetta, who seems to dictate the general pace of the set. Followed by Performance and Donovan, Happy Mondays’ setlist delivers a recognisable combination of indie-rock and dance music that sets even the most restrained heads bobbing.
Rowetta is undoubtedly the saviour of the show, turning out vocal riffs and waving tassels in the air as she moves about the stage in a sparkly ensemble. She breathes life and a semblance of unity into an otherwise detached and chaotic performance. But with a history of scuffles and drama, perhaps this is what fans have come to see: chaos. Reviving the audience, Rave On from the second EP (released in 1989) and Clap Your Hands from the legendary album 1988 album Bummed, keep the party going. By the end of the set, there are even shoes being waved around in support of the group’s breakthrough track Hallelujah (pronounced Halleloo-jah, of course). Bez is naturally on top form, jiving around the stage with an endless supply of maracas.
Finishing the set with Step On, Happy Mondays rounds out their second gig at the Roundhouse in two years. It’s not a performance that will go down in history, but it certainly carried the ever-enthusiastic audience into Friday with a spring in their step.
01 November 2019 Friday - Cliffs Pavilion, Southend On Sea
02 November 2019 Saturday - Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
05 November 2019 Friday - Great Hall, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales
Notes: Unconfirmed, possiblly cancelled and rescedhuled to the 29th?
07 November 2019 Thursday - Brighton Dome, Brighton * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
Intro / Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
08 November 2019 Friday - Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Da Silva *
09 November 2019 Saturday - Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth
14 November 2019 Thursday - Guild Hall, Preston, Lancashire * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
Notes: Greatest Hits Tour posters were distributed back in March 2019 for this event.
15 November 2019 Friday - O2 Academy, Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne * Doors Open: On Stage: 21:00 * Ticket Price: * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
(Unconfirmed set) Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Clap Your Hands / Bob's Yer Uncle / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes:
From 18 November 2019 www.nationalrockreview.com, Adam Kennedy: Happy Mondays at the O2 Academy Newcastle, Concert Reviews, Rock, UK. ‘Hallelujah’ it’s Friday night, and what better way to get the weekend off to a glorious start than in the company of the Happy Mondays.
With a career spanning back to 1980, the influential indie outfit are presently out on tour across the UK whilst taking a retrospective look back on their career. Tonight’s show marks Shaun Ryder’s second appearance in the region in recent months following a recent Evening with Q and A event at the Riverside in September. At the top of the evening, Acid House legend Jon DaSilva transports the crowd back to the glory days of the sadly missed Hacienda, which in turn sets the tone for the night ahead. The Geordies, many of whom arrive in bucket hats and fluorescent clothing are more than up for the occasion and dance wholeheartedly throughout to DaSilva’s set of floor-filling epics.
But at approximately 9 pm, the Mondays get the weekend underway, making this a Happy Friday. At the top of the set Kinky Afro and Loose Fit nostalgically transports the audience back to the band’s heyday. Rowetta takes to the stage twirling her leather tassels whilst adding a touch of glamour to the group, and her voice is still as impressive as ever.
Bez who is the shaman of the band prowls the edge of the stage all night, spurring on the crowd with his trademark moves and brandishing his maracas. One of which he throws out into the crowd, making a nice souvenir for one lucky fan. Bez largely leaves the talking to Shaun Ryder, but he does interject with a verse of Fog on the Tyne at one point, which is welcomed by the locals. Visuals featured on screens at the rear of the stage, and a laser light show that would make Pink Floyd even a tad envious further enhance tonight’s proceedings. And with a large proportion of the setlist being taken from the band’s seminal album Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, this show sees the Manchester legends at their very best.
Happy Monday’s sound is unmistakable and has unquestionably influenced so many of their peers over the years. The infectious melody of Rave On and Clap Your Hands sweeps the crowd away. Whilst Rowetta and Shaun, who share vocal duties on Bob’s Your Uncle, momentarily slows down proceedings whilst transporting those in attendance to Manumission and the Ibiza renaissance of the early 90s. A rare performance of Tart Tart is one of just a small smattering of songs in the set from the band’s debut album. And with its funky bass-heavy groove it certainly hits the spot. The closing stages of the show is packed full of back to back baggy anthems. The sentiment of tunes like 24 Hour Party People certainly rings true in Newcastle tonight. Whereas Hallelujah and Step On are simply timeless and still sound as fresh today as they did back in the day. To coin a line from the Shaun Ryder’s other band Black Grape tonight the Madchester legends were indeed ‘joyful and triumphant’.
16 November 2019 Saturday - Baths Hall, Scunthorpe
21 November 2019 Thursday - Manchester Academy, Manchester
22 November 2019 Friday - Record Junkee, Sheffield
Notes: Record store signing session.
22 November 2019 Friday - O2 Academy Sheffield, Sheffield * Support Act(s): Rowetta Record Junkee
23 November 2019 Saturday - O2 Academy, Bristol * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
Greatest Hits Tour - 28 November 2019 Thursday - O2 Academy, Oxford * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Da Silva *
Notes:
29 November 2019 Friday - Great Hall, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales
Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / The Egg / Wrote For Luck
30 November 2019 Saturday - Rock City, Nottingham * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
03 December 2019 Tuesday - Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
Notes: Additional tour date.
04 December 2019 Wednesday - Limelight, Belfast, UK
05 December 2019 Thursday - Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland
Notes: Additional tour date.
06 December 2019 Friday - Liverpool University Guild of Students, (Mountford Hall & Stanley Theatre), Liverpool * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Da Silva
Kinky Afro / Performance / Mad Cyril / Loose Fit / God’s Cop / Tart Tart / Rave On / Clap Your Hands / Bob’s Yer Uncle / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: Andrew Twambley took photos on the night too.
Richard Lewis review from pennyblackmusic.co.uk published: 10 April 2020:
Now established as a cockle warming Christmas tradition, unlike the vast majority of office do’s or being sat in overcrowded pubs, the Happy Mondays biennial December tour rolls into Liverpool. Following DJ Jon Da Silva’s stage warming support set, the powerhouse soul vocals of Rowetta signals the start, as she appears on stage, leather tassels whirling.
Arriving one by one, the band effortlessly build up the intro of ‘Kinky Afro’, as Shaun Ryder’s unforgettable opening lines “Son, I’m thirty/I only went with your mother cos she’s dirty” cut through the air. The band’s irresistible rhythms, best described by Mancunian music writer Mick Middles as the Mondays’ ‘sway’, the indefinable quality that makes the entire crowd at every venue dance to them, remains as evident as ever. Resembling a club doorman about to begin a long shift in particularly bad weather Ryder, decked out head to toe in black with his cap pulled down low, positions himself in front of Gaz Whelan’s drum riser, his vocals spot on amidst the band’s lopsided funk. Bez affably patrols the front of the stage, his freaky dancing boosting energy levels, while Paul Ryder in classic Bill Wyman/John Entwistle fashion simply stands there and holds the set together. With box set ‘The Early EPs’ recently on the shelves, the setlist has been overhauled to shine a light on the group’s embryonic material. ‘Performance’ named after the seminal cult film from an LP heavily inspired by the flick, 1988's indie rock/house alloy ‘Bummed’ makes a very welcome return to the set alongside an energized take of ‘Mad Cyril’. Ridiculously underrated bassist Paul Ryder, equal to fellow Mancunian Mani powers an atmospheric rendition of ‘Loose Fit’ while similarly undervalued axeman Mark Day supplies the brilliantly off-beam riffs of ‘God’s Cop’ and early days classic ‘Tart Tart’. Lesser-spotted tracks, monolithic dancefloor-filler ‘Rave On’ and ‘Clap Your Hands’ from 1989's ‘Madchester: Rave On’ EP are brilliantly essayed alongside a lascivious version of ‘Bob’s Yer Uncle’. The keyboard riff of ‘Step On’ heralds a mass outbreak of mates-on-shoulders, dancing, jumping, attempted acrobatics and general mayhem before a motoric version of ‘Wrote For Luck’ brings the curtain down. If Rowetta is always the first onstage, Mark Day is always last, wringing noise out of his Fender guitar until the lights go up and the theme tune to long defunct BBC1 sports programme ‘Grandstand’ booms from the PA.
Bez commented in a recent interview that this jaunt might be the last full-scale Mondays tour for a while, a crying shame on this evidence as the Salfordians live firepower remains as potent as ever.
07 December 2019 Saturday - Academy, Leeds * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: Rowetta announces she is pleased with Manchester United beating Manchester City in the Manchester derby earlier that evening, She adds: “We need Leeds back in the Premiership! Let’s hope this is your season.”
Paul Husband took photos for the meida, some pictures were published on Yorkshire Evening Posts website.
from 10 December 2019, 20:41 BST yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, The Newsroom, Ross Heppenstall, Gig review: Happy Mondays at O2 Academy Leeds. Say what you like about Happy Mondays, and many have down the years, but you simply cannot deny their ability to put on a party, writes ROSS HEPPENSTALL.
Quite remarkably, it was 1980 when the influential Mancunian indie outfit were formed. Nearly four decades on, they retain their allure and their loyal fanbase are still turning up in their droves to watch them play. Here they were back in Leeds again as part of a Greatest Hits’ Tour and all their finest tracks were given an airing.
Acid house legend Jon DaSilva, an impressive support act, transports a nostalgic, sold-out crowd back to the glory days of the sadly missed Manchester nightclub Hacienda with a fine DJ set. Classics such as A Guy Called Gerald by Voodoo Ray are lapped up and, by the time the Mondays arrive on stage, the tone for the night ahead has been set nicely.
The opening riff of fan favourite Kinky Afro sets the crowd moving and prompts a mass singalong. Long-time band member Rowetta is in fine voice and legendary dancer Mark ‘Bez’ Berry is also at his mercurial best with a set of maracas, compensating somewhat for the poor sound quality from lead singer Shaun Ryder. That said, it does little to dampen the raucous atmosphere as the Mondays’ setlist delivers endless top tunes such as Loose Fit, Hallelujah, 24 Hour Party People and Dennis and Lois. Finishing the set with Step On, Happy Mondays are always assured of a warm reception in Leeds and have been for many years. The Manchester United-supporting band threaten to upset Leeds locals when Rowetta announces she is pleased with their team beating neighbours Manchester City in the Manchester derby earlier that evening. She then quickly adds: “We need Leeds back in the Premiership! Let’s hope this is your season.” Cue cheers all round. The Happy Mondays should be around for some time yet and how we should all raise a glass to that.
12 December 2019 Thursday - Nick Rayns LCR UEA, Norwich
13 December 2019 Friday - Roadmender, Northampton * Support Act(s): London Calling *
Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
14 December 2019 Saturday - Institute, Birmingham
Kinky Afro / Performance / Donovan / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Dennis and Lois / Rave On / Bob's Yer Uncle / Clap Your Hands / Tart Tart / Mad Cyril / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
18 December 2019 Wednesday - Cheese & Grain, Frome, UK * Support Act(s): DJ Jon Dasilva
19 December 2019 Thursday - Academy, Bournemouth
20 December 2019 - Friday - G Live, Guildford
21 December 2019 - Saturday - Engine Shed, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Notes: Additional tour date.
2020
17 February 2020 - Andrew Weatherall passes
Notes: Pioneering DJ and producer died, aged 56, following a pulmonary embolism in Whipps Cross Hospital, London.
24 March 2020 - COVID-19 Lockdown
2020 - Shaun and Bez appear on Celebrity Gogglebox TV Show
Broadcast: Channel 4
07 November 2022 - The Big Issue Bez Interview: It’s been incredible. Who would ever have thought that at our age me and Shaun would be on the telly sitting on our sofa? [The two are regulars on Celebrity Gogglebox]. We are so out there in terms of the establishment’s idea of the norm. But somehow we’ve been embraced by the mainstream. What an incredible thing to have happened, no one could have predicted it. I think Gogglebox shows our friendship as it is, but I’m not sure because I’ve never watched it. I hate myself on television. I think I sound so thick it’s unbelievable...
25 October 2020 Sunday - Shaun and Bez launch their Youtube Channel with Episode 1 of 'Call The Cops'
Notes: Episode 1 launched 12:00 Mid-day. Following their success on Celebrity Gogglebox, Shaun and Bez released an episode every week where they talked about everything from the past to the future.
26 October 2020 - Article written by Mark Millar for XSNOIZE.com:
Sundays will never be the same again - Shaun and Bez have launched their own YouTube channel!!! ‘Shaun & Bez: Call The Cops’ first episode went live on Sunday 25TH October 2020 at 12 midday.
Following their amazing success on Celebrity Gogglebox, where the nation took them to their hearts, they’re meeting up for breakfast once a week to chat about some of the stories that have made them legendary. They may not be able to remember everything clearly, but they’re guaranteed to have a lot of laughs along the way. From the moment they first met - 37 years ago - right up until the present day, they’ve seen and done it all. And the rest… We’ll be finding out how they got their first big break, what happened on tour and about their own experiences in both the Jungle and the Big Brother house and why their friendship has remained so strong for so long. With a new episode every Sunday they will also be joined by old friends, reminiscing about the good old days as well as sharing their wisdom about the future.
Shaun and Bez’s audience spans across all generations and includes Happy Mondays and Black Grape fans as well Big Brother, I’m a Celebrity, Gogglebox audiences. The YouTube channel chats will uncover hilarious stories from the past as well as their recent day to day struggles including getting to grips with modern technology.
31 October 2020 Sunday - Episode 2 of 'Call The Cops' on YouTube
2021
17 January 2021 - Bez launches his Youtube dance classes "Get Buzzin' With Bez"
Notes: 56 year old Bez was put through his paces with a personal trainer in the YouTube Episodes.
"I'd like to think I'm somewhere between Joe Wicks and Mr Motivator. "I've started this new year seriously unfit, with a fat belly and creaky hips, and I can't stop eating chocolate. "Last lockdown I got unfit, fat, lazy and into some seriously bad eating habits.
Bez said he has "started this new year seriously unfit, with a fat belly and creaky hips" "At the very least, I know I'll be making people smile, at best I'll be helping people get fit and mentally happier alongside me."
March 2021 - Shaun Ryder household contract COVID-19
Notes: Shaun, second wife Joanne and their two daughters, aged 12 and 13, suffer for three weeks.
From 10 May 2021 - The G2 Interview, Mon 10 May 2021 11.00 BST by Tim Jonze: Earlier this year, Ryder contracted Covid-19, along with his entire household (Ryder lives with his second wife, Joanne, and their two daughters). He was sick for three weeks, with bouts of fatigue that dragged on after that. But, according to best pal Bez – his partner in crime through the hedonistic days of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and currently appearing with Ryder in the more family-friendly TV show Celebrity Gogglebox – the virus had a very unusual side-effect: it caused the hair Ryder had lost through alopecia to grow back. We’ve learned to be endlessly surprised by this virus, but is this really true? “Nooo,” he says, pointing at his head. “That’s skin pigmentation! Basically, it’s tattooed hair and tattooed eyebrows.” He chuckles: “That’s me now. Fake head of hair, fake eyebrows, fake teeth, fake hip. I’m the biggest fucking fake going!”...
13 September 2021 - The Big Issue EASY RYDER (7 MINUTES) Shaun Ryder Interview: TBI: Did you have long Covid? SWR: After I had Covid-19 I could have a couple of days a week where I couldn’t get out of bed and had no energy. That went on for months but they are becoming more rare now. But for a good few months I struggled.
TBI: What do you think of lockdown ending? SWR: What else can we do? We’re all getting vaccines. I do know people who have been vaccinated and still got Covid but it’s not been as bad as it would have been. We’ve got to see how it goes. I mean, look, places like Brazil and Korea have done fuck-all about it and they haven’t been wiped out. I mean it’s not good but it hasn’t wiped everyone out yet.
TBI: What do you think of Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock and the chaos inside the government throughout all this? SWR: What’s new? It gets me, this, when people act shocked and say, “Is it one rule for them and a different rule for us?” I’m like, fucking too right it is! It’s always been like that. Take you back to fucking 1549 and it was fucking one rule for one and another rule for the fucking other. When I saw him [Hancock] with his fucking secretary on the camera I thought, OK, that’s just what I expect. It’s always gone on. He just got caught. And now they want to do a big enquiry about how the footage got out. “Oooh, it’s dangerous! We have to look into it because leaks are dangerous!” Fuck’s sake. It’s all bollocks. It will all get covered up. It will always be one rule for them and another rule for us. It would take a million years to change it.
April 2021 - Robbie Williams, Tricky, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Noel Gallagher have all visited Shaun Ryder's studio.
Notes: The studio is located at the bottom of his garden.
May 2021 - The G2 Interview, Mon 10 May 2021 11.00 BST by Tim Jonze:
Shaun Ryder: ‘I was a heroin addict for 20-odd years, but there’s been no damage off that’ From ADHD to alopecia and learning the alphabet at 28, the Happy Mondays singer has had a wild, eventful life. He discusses hedonism, parenting – and why he has to spend so much time correcting Bez.
Shaun Ryder is being uncharacteristically quiet. That’s because he’s mistakenly stuck himself on mute and can’t work out how to turn on the microphone of the computer he’s on. We spend a rather amusing (and awkward) five minutes mouthing silently at each other, pointing fingers and shrugging shoulders, while Ryder wrestles with his device, occasionally spinning it around so that he appears upside down. Eventually, though, an unmistakable Salford accent comes crackling through my speakers: “Can ya hear me now?”
Loud and clear, Shaun, which is good because I’ve got a burning question that demands answering.
Earlier this year, Ryder contracted Covid-19, along with his entire household (Ryder lives with his second wife, Joanne, and their two daughters). He was sick for three weeks, with bouts of fatigue that dragged on after that. But, according to best pal Bez – his partner in crime through the hedonistic days of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and currently appearing with Ryder in the more family-friendly TV show Celebrity Gogglebox – the virus had a very unusual side-effect: it caused the hair Ryder had lost through alopecia to grow back.
We’ve learned to be endlessly surprised by this virus, but is this really true? “Nooo,” he says, pointing at his head. “That’s skin pigmentation! Basically, it’s tattooed hair and tattooed eyebrows.” He chuckles: “That’s me now. Fake head of hair, fake eyebrows, fake teeth, fake hip. I’m the biggest fucking fake going!”
Ryder had taken to calling himself “Uncle Fester” after alopecia struck a couple of years ago. He says it happened because he was forced to stop using the testosterone gel prescribed for his underactive thyroid.
“My blood cells were all turning white or turning red or whatever,” he says, with perhaps not 100% medical authority. “I think the specialist must have panicked because she didn’t want the stroke of a celebrity on her hands. So they stopped it, and within a week I had no beard, no hair, no hair on my body, the lot! But now the testosterone is back at the normal level and I’m getting these long wiry hairs that I have to shave every three weeks. But that’s from the testosterone, not Covid. Or it could be the fruit.”
The fruit? “Yeah, when I had Covid all I could eat was fruit. Big bags of pears every day. So maybe it was that? Who knows?”
At 58, Ryder’s health is not what it was. Aside from the thyroid trouble, his new hip is giving him problems, which has left him struggling to walk, let alone cycle – he famously credited “pedalling from 8am until 11pm” with helping him shake his addiction to heroin and crack cocaine.
Is a lifetime of excess finally catching up with him? “Nooo!” he says. “I’ve got hereditary thyroid problems and once that goes, it controls everything. The hip is the same – my mum has two fake hips. I was a heroin addict for 20-odd years, but there’s been no damage off that. Yes, my teeth went from the crystal meth and crack cocaine. But apart from cold turkeys, I’ve never had anything wrong with me until I was 53, when all this shit started.”
To be fair, Ryder seems extremely happy, despite the health woes – of all the musicians I’ve spoken to entering old age, he could be the most content. He even admits to having enjoyed the pandemic year: more time with the kids, mainly.
He has six in total but lives with his youngest daughters who are 13 and 12, and has loved the enforced time at home. There has also been a steady stream of collaborators visiting the studio at the bottom of his garden: Robbie Williams, Tricky, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Noel Gallagher have all popped around. Bez suggested to the press that these were all guests on Ryder’s forthcoming new solo album, but actually he’s been the one guesting on their records. “Do I spend my life correcting things Bez says?” he says with a sigh. “It can take up a lot of time, yeah.”
But there is a new album: Visits From Future Technology will be Ryder’s first solo effort since 2003’s Amateur Night In the Big Top. It was actually recorded back in 2010, just before he went on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, where he finished runner-up to winner Stacey Solomon.
His management team weren’t interested in putting out an album then; they told him to go on TV and build his profile instead. A decade on, though, he’s teamed up with Alan McGee, formerly boss of Oasis’s old record label, and, after sprucing up the album over lockdown, it is ready to be released.
It is unmistakably Ryder: scraps of surrealist poetry pasted together into amusing, semi-coherent cartoon tales. The lead single, Mumbo Jumbo, deals with the vapidity of modern life and the indignity of receiving “meaningless texts about bullshit from people with the brains of jellyfish”. Popstars’ Daughters, meanwhile, contains the unique advice: “Even though I’ve got four of my own/I’d advise you leave well alone … don’t marry popstars’ daughters.” It’s based on personal experience: Ryder had a rocky marriage – and a daughter, Coco – with Oriole Leitch, the daughter of 60s star Donovan, which ended in divorce. He has also seen things from the other side: around the time he wrote the album one of his elder daughters had just arrived from the US to live with him. “At the time she was 19 and doing what 19-year-olds do – getting drunk and thinking that because she was coming to live with her dad she could get off her tits.”
It must be tough having to set boundaries as a father when your reputation throughout the 90s was as the country’s chief hedonist. In Ryder’s autobiography, he talks about taking microdots of LSD with Bez every day for a year, washing down ecstasy with his breakfast and preparing for a Glastonbury set by locking himself in the luggage hold of his tourbus and smoking heroin for 48 hours. But Ryder is relaxed about such parental conflicts.
“All my kids grew up around showbiz so they know it’s just a job,” he says. “To them I’m Dad, and I’m a knobhead.” He says his older children have been through the party years, whereas his younger two know more about the dangers of drugs and partying. “They’ve grown up differently to me, anyway: private education, middle-class children.” Actually, he notes, his youngest daughter came out of private school recently. “She said to me: ‘Dad, I’m not a snob, I’m a chav, and I don’t wanna go to that school any more.’ So we put her into a Salford comprehensive and she loves it. She’s on to her fifth fight already!”
Ryder has admitted to his failures as a father in the past; he was “just a kid having kids” back in the day, more interested in partying than parenthood. But now that he’s clean and settled with Joanne, whom he wed in 2010, he lovesbeing a hands-on dad. Thinking about his daughters’ future has even got him interested in politics for the first time: “This lot in charge are totally out of touch,” he says. “So I’m Labour, although I couldn’t vote for Corbyn – he’d have taken too much money off me!”
Marriage isn’t the only thing that’s given Ryder stability. Last year, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Three of his daughters have it, too, apparently, and so they traced it back to him. Having this diagnosis has led him to reflect on his unruly past, and a lot of things have started to make sense.
“Now I understand why my bedroom as a 10-year-old became the metaphor for my life: a fucking mess,” he says. “So this ADHD thing explains a lot: the impulsive behaviour, the drugs from a young age, not learning the alphabet until I was 28. Education is about remembering stuff and I could never remember anything, so I didn’t get an education.”
Shaun William George Ryder was born in Salford in 1962. His family was a loving one, although they’d never say that to one another. “Noooooo!” he says when I ask (Ryder has a great way of letting you know if you’re barking up the wrong tree). “There was none of that! We say it to the kids all the time now, though, and it’s hilarious because they’ll give my mam a kiss and hug her and she’ll go like this …” He sits upright, frozen rigid, eyes wide with terror.
On top of the ADHD, Ryder is dyslexic and his teachers forced him to write with his weaker right hand. It is no surprise that by 13 he was skipping school and taking on work ripping cinema seats out of cinemas. He always knew how to make a few quid to tide him over, even if that usually meant “robbing things from people’s back gardens”.
At 19, he was sacked from his Post Office job for stealing parcels, but, by that point, the Happy Mondays had formed and were on their way to getting signed by Manchester’s most influential label, Factory Records.
The band were a musical oddity: a ramshackle mix of influences and street slang, inspired by the various music collections of Ryder’s huge extended family – “from Captain Beefheart to northern soul to Elton John”. While many guitar bands of the era drew solely on stiflingly white influences, the Happy Mondays embraced elements of funk, soul and hip-hop. When Ryder’s mate brought the first ecstasy into Manchester (in a tube of toothpaste, so the story goes) he found himself personally tasked with spreading it through the city, mainly at Factory’s Hacienda nightclub, although the band would give it to their football hooligan mates, too: “Just to watch them put their Stanley knives away and dance,” he says now. Ecstasy also bled into the band’s music: their 1990 album Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, and its iconic single Step On, perfectly captured the indie/dance zeitgeist. The band toured the world, headlined stadiums and hoovered up every substance going. But by the time of their next album, the disappointing Yes Please, they were mired in addiction. Factory flew them to Barbados to record it (on the understanding there was no heroin on the island), only for Ryder to end up quite literally selling the Hugo Boss shirt off his back to stock up with the plentiful supply of local crack. Shortly after its release Factory folded and the band split, although Ryder would make the first of many comebacks not long after with Black Grape, in which rapper (and fellow heroin addict) Kermit was enlisted to help forge an even looser, more debauched-sounding gospel and funk-addled party music.
Onboard throughout this journey was Ryder’s dad, Derek, who worked as a roadie and sound technician. That must have been interesting …
“It ruined our relationship for a long time,” admits Ryder, “because I was the boss and my dad didn’t like that.”
Did his dad witness all the band’s bad behaviour? “Witness it? My dad joined in! We smoked crack together, we shared bongs … that just became normal behaviour from 18 onwards.”
Happy Mondays management tried sacking Derek once, when an argument over the sound led to the senior Ryder walking onstage at Wembley and punching his son in front of 10,000 people. “Right in the fucking nose, blood everywhere … but you can only sack your dad for a day.”
His dad might not have minded, but the band’s lairy tales of groupies and excess would surely be looked at through a different lens now.
“Oh, you couldn’t do it now!” he says. Then again, he’s not sure you could really do it then; most of their freedom was down to Factory not putting any constraints on them. “Labels always want the ‘real deal’ but when they discover them and have to deal with where they come from, and their environments, it frightens them to death,” he says. “So they go out and find a band that look and sound like them instead – who they can control and make big.”
Ryder patched up his relationship with his father before his death in 2018. And he’s stayed great friends with Bez. The pair have become unlikely national treasures in recent years with a flair for reality TV: Bez won Celebrity Big Brother in 2005 and Ryder, ever savvy, says he realised such shows were where they needed to be in order to extend their careers: “That’s how you bring the fans in now. A kid sees us on TV and the next minute he’s pressed his thumb and downloaded all the back catalogue and is looking at photos of when you was 18.”
Ryder is also old friends with the Stone Roses singer Ian Brown – the pair used to meet up at the local drive-thru McDonald’s when their bands were taking off. I wonder what he makes of Brown’s recent anti-vaccine and anti-mask statements. “Oh, that’s just typical fucking Ian,” he snorts. “He can go dead Orson Welles, can Ian, thinking he’s really intelligent.”
Ryder, you sense, thinks there’s nothing more ridiculous than taking the pronouncements of a rock star seriously. “Ian’s just another of them pseudo intellectuals,” he says, before adding, as if there could be nothing more demonstrable of pseudo-intellectualism: “He was one of them guys who was 21 years old and didn’t even look at porn mags because it was detrimental to women!”
He is similarly unconcerned by recent comments from another local icon, Morrissey, including flirtation with far-right politicians: “Oh that’s just Morrissey being Morrissey, what do you expect?” Not that Ryder’s worried about falling out of public favour himself: “I’m not secretly a horrible nasty bastard, I’ve got nowt to tuck away.”
In fact, he looks back on much of the trouble he did get into and wonders if any of it could have been avoided if he’d known about his ADHD diagnosis. During the mid-90s he was the only person to be officially banned from appearing live on Channel 4 after swearing during an appearance on TFI Friday. “But I didn’t go on that show thinking: ‘I’m going to swear and do all this.’ I’ve got ADHD and so when I get caught up in exciting moments, the Salford street urchin can come right out of me. But if I’d understood my ADHD diagnosis I probably wouldn’t have done it.”
Ryder is as keen as he’s ever been for his album to do well; he says he never wants to stop making music. “When the Mondays split up I looked at the others who’d rather sign on the dole than work with me and Bez, and thought: ‘Whoa, you’re gonna throw this opportunity away and maybe never work in music again? There was no way we were doing that.”
Ryder says he always envisaged himself still making music at 60 if he could. What has surprised him, though, is how much more he enjoys it now. “I’m more happy with myself inside, more secure. People always ask if I miss the drugs and the partying. I’m a 58-year-old man – no, I don’t! It was great when I was 18 but things are fucking great now. They’re better now.”
It seems a fitting way to sign off our chat. “Now I’ve just got to work out how to turn this thing off,” he says, grinning, as the screen spins upside down one last time.
23 - 25 July 2021 - CarFest
Rag'n'Bone Man / Roger Daltrey / The Charlatans / McFly / Happy Mondays / Marc Almond / Reef / Freya Ridings / The Feeling / Beverley Night / BANNERS / The Fratellis / Paul Heaton / Razorlight / Maxi Jazz (Faithless)
Black Grape - 24 July 2021 Saturday - Scenic Stage - Dreamland, Margate * Supporting: Ocean Colour Scene
Happy Mondays / Black Grape - 20/21 August 2021 - Sign Of The Times Festival 2021, Bolesworth Castle, Church End, Ware, Cheshire
Notes: Happy Mondays / Ash / The Selector / The Wedding Present / Ferocious Dog / Black Grape
Shaun Ryder - Shaun Ryder publishes Book Of Mumbo Jumbo
Mumbo Jumbo Hardback, First 50 Copies Include 7inch Vinyl Of “Old Boy” £39.99
Box Of Mumbo Jumbo includes Hardback with numbered 7inch Vinyl Of “Old Boy”, card repro ticket stubs, mini posters, postcards and numbered signed photo of Shaun in an oversized box.
Notes: Interesting book full of fan contributions, photos, gigography and earl accounts of Happy Mondays shows all the way up until present day.
SWR - 20 August 2021 - Shaun Ryder - Visits from Future Technology U.K. Release Date
Recorded 2010 - LA, U.S.A.
Mixed by Sunny Levine.
White Vinyl (Signed) £25.00
CD + White Vinyl (Includes 12x12 Signed Album Art Print) £30.00
Visits From Future Technology CD (Signed) £10.00
Visits From Future Technology CD + White Vinyl + Mumbo Jumbo T-Shirt (Includes 12x12 Signed Album Art Print) £48.00
Visits From Future Technology CD + Mumbo Jumbo T-Shirt £25.00
Visits From Future Technology Test Pressing (Limited to 50 pressings only) (Signed and Numbered) £100.00
Mumbo Jumbo (Double Sided) T-Shirt £20.00
Mumbo Jumbo / Close The Dam / Pop Star’s Daughters / Monster / Honey Put The Kettle On / Crazy Bitches / Straighten Me Up / I Can Stop Any Time / Electric Scales / Turn Off The Air / Clubbing Rabbits
Notes: The LP was recorded in 2010, just before he went on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!. His management team weren’t interested in putting out an album then; they told him to go on TV and build his profile instead. The album was shelved. Shaun's 2021 manager Alan McGee (former Creation Records), however, suggested the LP be released with some new vocal takes and mixdowns. Shaun recorded new vocal takes during lockdown and the LP was mixed during the pandemic. This was Shaun's first solo LP since 2003's Amateur Night In The Big Top.
29 August 2021 Article written by Ben P Scott for XSNOIZE.com: ALBUM REVIEW: Shaun Ryder - Visits from Future Technology 8/10
...Recorded in Los Angeles back in 2010, these tracks were revived on the suggestion of manager and former Creation Records chief Alan McGee before being given a mix by Sunny Levine and a few new vocals. Like the man himself, his first solo LP in 18 years is both mad and fascinating. His comment that "In my delusional ADHD brain, it’s my Sgt. Pepper full of different flavoured songs", seems to make a lot of sense by the time the listener arrives at the end of this predictably bonkers yet steadily anchored record. Brimming with mischief and playful cool, it’s an album that also provides us with the Northern wordsmith's most personal collection of songs yet.
The cracking opener ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ immediately creates a bouncy and colourful sound; its catchy, topsy turvy vibes also offer the most irresistible singalong chorus here. Beating fellow Madchester hero Ian Brown at his electronic hip hop game, the highlight 'Close The Dam' matches a superb low end with slinky guitars and a smoking hot groove, while the unashamedly melodic 'Pop Star’s Daughters' is both an ode to his four own children as well as a reference to his failed marriage to the daughter of 60s singer Donovan. Powered by thick bass and quirky production, 'Monster' moves along enjoyably, with the energy sustained for the bounding rhythm, acoustic guitars and handclaps of the slightly Fall-like 'Honey Put The Kettle On'.
On the deliriously disorderly 'Crazy Bitches', shades of acid house and techno revolve against a smokey backdrop before bona fide party-bouncer 'Straighten Me Up' brings to mind prime Mondays with its lazed riffs, cheeky synths, and groove-driven strut offset brilliantly by Ryder's lyrical dexterity, rowdy charm and surreal wordplay. Set to a beat made from flicking lighters and hopping drum machine rhythms, weird electronics and glitchy keys provide the backdrop to the confessional 'I Can Stop Any Time', where our now cleaned-up author reflects on being addicted to heroin for 20 years.
Another vibrant high point comes with the swaggering 'Electric Scales', Ryder's commanding growl sliding between glam rock tones and bluesy guitars, spitting out priceless couplets such as "everyone I know is on some kind of pill, and all my friends are mentally ill". 'Turn Off The Air' finds a relaxed moment, providing something of a breather via gentle 60s pop and accordion contrasting with the typically rough around the edges vocal delivery before the LP closes with the chunky, rich trip-hop booty shaker 'Clubbing Rabbits'. Plenty to love here, including small touches of varispeed vocals, subtle electronic touches that highlight the off-the-wall lo-fi production and more golden lines like the one about going to "buy a new pair of keks". Who else but Shaun Ryder could be responsible for such a line?
Often joyously chaotic, Visits from Future Technology is definitely an insightful entry into the discography. Far from a carefully crafted autobiographical concept record, it effortlessly sticks together hip hop, house, 60s rock, blues, electronica, funk and punk elements, stirring this multi genre melting pot with a distinctively Salford-shaped spoon.
As audaciously inventive as ever, the music veers from place to place as Ryder's lairy drawl punches through it in boss fashion. As far as uncovered "lost albums" go, this one is a winner.
13 September 2021 -The Big Issue EASY RYDER (7 MINUTES) Shaun Ryder Interview: The Big Issue: The new record is very upbeat for something recorded in lockdown, isn’t it? Shaun Ryder: Most of the songs were recorded in LA back in 2010. But before we could finish the record I went into the jungle [for I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!] and eventually it got forgotten about. I started doing TV stuff, then Black Grape and Happy Mondays stuff. But in lockdown I was doing loads of work out of my home studio on other people’s records like Noel [Gallagher] and Robbie Williams. And then someone said, why don’t you go back and finish your solo record? So me and Sunny [Levine, who produced the record] finished it all off remotely – down the line between his studio in Venice Beach and me here in England.
TBI: Tell me about Mumbo Jumbo. Even by your standards the lyrics are mad – what is going on? SWR: When I’m writing I’m putting in a lot of metaphors for things. Only thing is by the time the record comes out and people ask me what the metaphors mean I’ve forgot! But on that one what it’s really going on about is a load of bollocks coming through on your phone and a load of bollocks that’s going on in the music industry.
02 September 2021 - Headliners, BBC Radio 5 Live
Notes: The Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder joined Nihal Arthanayake to talk about his career in music, his struggles with school and his new album, Visits from Future Technology.
Official: MP3 BBC Download
Black Grape - 03 September 2021 Friday - The Ritz, Manchester
13 September 2021 - Shaun Ryder Interview appears in The Big Issue
Notes: EASY RYDER, the interview included: Tell me about Mumbo Jumbo. Even by your standards the lyrics are mad – what is going on? SR: When I’m writing I’m putting in a lot of metaphors for things. Only thing is by the time the record comes out and people ask me what the metaphors mean I’ve forgot!
But on that one what it’s really going on about is a load of bollocks coming through on your phone and a load of bollocks that’s going on in the music industry.
Did you have long Covid? SR: After I had Covid-19 I could have a couple of days a week where I couldn’t get out of bed and had no energy. That went on for months but they are becoming more rare now. But for a good few months I struggled.
What do you think of lockdown ending? SR: What else can we do? We’re all getting vaccines. I do know people who have been vaccinated and still got Covid but it’s not been as bad as it would have been. We’ve got to see how it goes. I mean, look, places like Brazil and Korea have done fuck-all about it and they haven’t been wiped out. I mean it’s not good but it hasn’t wiped everyone out yet.
What do you think of Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock and the chaos inside the government throughout all this? SR: What’s new? It gets me, this, when people act shocked and say, “Is it one rule for them and a different rule for us?” I’m like, fucking too right it is! It’s always been like that. Take you back to fucking 1549 and it was fucking one rule for one and another rule for the fucking other. When I saw him [Hancock] with his fucking secretary on the camera I thought, OK, that’s just what I expect. It’s always gone on. He just got caught. And now they want to do a big enquiry about how the footage got out. “Oooh, it’s dangerous! We have to look into it because leaks are dangerous!” Fuck’s sake. It’s all bollocks. It will all get covered up. It will always be one rule for them and another rule for us. It would take a million years to change it.
TV - September 2021 - Shaun Ryder made an appearance on This Morning TV Show to participate in a phone-in about UFO sightings.
Notes: Shaun joined hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the sofa to chat about his own extraterrestrial experiences. He claimed early in the interview that his first sighting occurred when he was 15 years old, “long before all my encounters with hallucinogenics”. Later, Ryder looked back on when he was making the 2013 documentary Shaun Ryder On UFOs. “I looked out in my back garden and over my apple tree there’s this big – well, when I say big [it was] about 20 by 10ft – plastic Airfix-looking wobbly thing,” he said. “It looked like it was hanging there on strings because it was moving [side to side].” Explaining that he thought the encounter was a prank by the doc’s producers, Ryder went on to remember a “buzz of energy” emitting from the UFO. “I’m watching this thing and it started to make a cloud,” he said. “The cloud got bigger and bigger and it went off really slow[ly],”
04 November 2021 - Shaun appears in Fortean Times Issue number 412
Notes: Rise and shine with Shaun and Jenny - Over the years I have done many TV interviews about UFOs. One show that I recall fondly is the two-hour plus live magazine This Morning, on air now for 33 years. The five-days-a-week series has won multiple awards and its presenters are household names. Like most shows of this type, it has an item on UFOs now and then – there was one in September, when musician and long-term UFO enthusiast Shaun Ryder (right) was invited on to chat and take phone calls from viewers.
This was of interest to me because I did the first such feature on This Morning on 30 March 1989, just a few months after the show started. A studio had been created on the dockside in Liverpool, with a floating pontoon as part of the set, Granada’s husband and wife team of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan were presenting, and I was ferried by car from Stockport to Albert Dock just after dawn. I could not help but compare my first episode of This Morning (I did others later) with the one involving Shaun Ryder, so I thought I’d engage in some musing about how ufologists interact with the public, and the nature of ‘public’ UFOs. How much has changed and how much stayed the same across a third of a century? Not much, in how the item is presented. Guest explains why they believe in UFOs; viewers call in with their stories; guest analyses them. After all, this is the essence of UFO investigation – though as I’ve pointed out in interviews, you cannot analyse a case fully in just five minutes over the phone. Yet live TV requires you to try. Was it really a UFO, or just a balloon? Probably not, or maybe, isn’t the most satisfying answer, but it’s often the only honest one we can give...On This Morning the viewer calls to Shaun had barely changed since that day 32 years ago when I sat in the chair. He dealt with a couple of callers in his inimitable way, but nothing dramatic emerged. A woman who had been at Stonehenge had a UFO turn up on a photo of the base of the stones. It was clear to me in seconds, from long experience of similar ‘UFOs’, that this was a lens flare; a reminder that not a lot has changed across the years in terms of UFO reporting or the hard task of on-the-spot analysis of something that might have changed a caller’s whole outlook on life. However, digging into that period in 1978 brought forth an unsolved case I had long forgotten from around the same time as Shaun’s.
Black Grape - 16 September 2021 Thursday - Tramshed, Cardiff
Black Grape - 18 September 2021 Saturday - The Mill Digbeth, Digbeth
Black Grape - 24 September 2021 Friday - The Warehouse, Leeds
Black Grape - 25 September 2021 Saturday - The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Scotland
26 September 2021 Sunday - Stone Valley Festival (North) 2021, Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens, Durham
The Selecter / The skids / The Dualers / The Scandals / The Undertones / Bad Manners / The Farm / Death Of Guitar Pop / Secret Affair / The Chords UK / Nancy & the Dolls / Block 33 / Happy Mondays / Cast / from the jam / Neville Staple / Geno Washington / The Karpets / the vapors / Basket Case
Notes: Festival took place 24-26.
October 2021 - Shaun publishes the, autobiography, book 'How to Be a Rock Star by Shaun Ryder'
Notes: Media hyped the release as 'Now 59 and 17 years clean'. A how-to (and how-not-to) guide for dealing with fame and fortune, with the book split into short chapters covering everything from lyrics to haircuts, riders to rehab.
How to Be a Rockstar by Shaun Ryder is published by Atlantic Books (£20). Available as a hardback edition and regular cover, signed editions were also available to pre-order. There was at least two publications with different style cover sleeves (orange and white).
M - 04 November 2021 - Shaun appears in Fortean Times Issue number 412
Notes: Rise and shine with Shaun and Jenny...
Black Grape - November 2021 - Shiiine On Weekender, Butlin's, Minehead
SWR - 19 November 2021 Friday - 2021 An Evening with Shaun Ryder, The Bowdon Rooms, Altrincham, Chesire * Doors Open: 19:00
Notes: "Join Shaun for a fascinating interview about his years in The Happy Mondays & Black Grape. You will also hear his take on the Manchester music scene and truly incredible first-hand accounts of mad incidents and the rock & roll capers he is so renowned for."
Audience members had the chance to ask Shaun questions too.
25 November 2021 Thursday - First Direct Arena, Leeds * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / Dennis and Lois / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: James announced the shows in mid November 2020, during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Tickets went on sale 20 November 2020 Friday 09.30am but did not sell as quickly as expeced. Many fans were worried about the shows being delayed or cancelled due to the restrictions already in place.
The dates marked 33 years since the two Factory label mates toured together (see 1988).
26 November 2021 Friday - Utilita Arena, Birmingham * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / Dennis and Lois / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
28 November 2021 Sunday - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Dennis and Lois / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
30 November 2021 Tuesday - The SSE Hyrdo Arena, Glasgow, Scotland * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Dennis and Lois / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Bootleg: Audience Recording (CD-R)
01 December 2021 Wednesday - 3Arena, Dublin * Supporting: James
03 December 2021 Friday - AO Arena aka M.E.N. Arena, Manchester * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Dennis and Lois / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On / Wrote For Luck
Notes: I remember the early press and media articles promoting the tour, they made it sound like they would collaborate together on stage during the sets, as far as I am aware this never happened and the band's had no intention to either.
from bringthenoiseuk.com, Joe Loughran LIVE REVIEW: James And Happy Mondays, AO Arena, Manchester 03/12/2021: From the moment James and Happy Mondays announced a joint arena tour, with Manchester Arena being one of those dates – it just felt like one of those gigs you had to get tickets for. Two of Manchester’s finest exports taking on Manchester Arena with a crowd of over 15,000 expected; it had all the ingredients of an iconic night.
Despite an insane amount of traffic and waiting times getting into the arena due to the rigorous searches taking place, we arrived just in time to see Happy Mondays come out to a roaring crowd to play fan-favourite Kinky Afro. Although based off his appearance, the lifestyle he led during the ’80s and ’90s has evidently caught up with Shaun Ryder, his voice has miraculously held up very well. The band sounded tight, and the crowd were lapping up every track.
As with the nature of the two bands having an older demographic as a fanbase, this was reflected in the crowd, although people were seemingly enjoying themselves, there was very little dancing to be seen despite the nature of Happy Monday’s music. However, that may be expected, but it’s one of those things you’ll only really know when you get to that age. As the set went on and Bez’s maracas continued to shake, the band’s greatest hits were continuing to hold up well in the arena environment with the fantastic dance anthem Step On being the clear highlight, although a bit more effort with the lighting and production would not have gone a miss. At the ninth song of the set, Ryder announced Wrote for Luck would be the final song of their set, which was slightly disappointing as you would imagine that most people were there as much for Happy Mondays as they were for James. Although the energy levels were not particularly high and the setlist wasn’t particularly long, it was by no means a bad performance. 6.5/10
04 December 2021 Saturday - The SSE Arena, Wembley, London * Supporting: James
Kinky Afro / God's Cop / Dennis and Lois / Loose Fit / Bob's Yer Uncle / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / Step On