Happy Mondays- Australian Tour 2019

During the early 1990s I was a big fan of bands out of the Manchester scene, including Happy Mondays, who released their seminal album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches in 1990. Tonight I had the unique opportunity to see the band play the album in full at the Forum. Opening the evening was the five piece Sydney band The Lulu Raes. They sounded really good and had these lovely melodic indie songs, but I was a bit thrown by their look as it didn't match how they sounded.

Most of the original band members of Happy Mondays were on board for this tour, including lead singer Shaun Ryder, who got around stage on a walking stick. They began the evening with "Kinky Afro" and Bez had the crowd going from the start as he danced back and forth across the front of the stage shaking his maracas and interacting with people all night. Rowetta's soulful and powerful vocals were amazing on each song, and highlights for me were "God’s Cop," "Loose Fit," "Dennis and Lois," "Holiday" and the massive hit single "Step On," which went completely off. They finished the main set with "Harmony," and then for an encore played the earlier tracks "Hallelujah" and "24 Hour Party People." I'm glad I had the opportunity to see Happy Mondays play live and hear the album in full, although dealing with some of the guys flailing around on the floor was annoying at times.

Here's the video for "Step On"