Live Review: The Happy Mondays bring the hits to adoring Royal & Derngate crowd

From the moment Shaun Ryder and Bez walked out on stage at Royal & Derngate, joined the rest of the Happy Mondays and launched into their biggest single Kinky Afro - you knew it was going to be a great night.

The Mancunian legends are out on tour and on Thursday headlined a sold-out gig at the Northampton venue.

Sure, there hasn’t been an album from the baggy icons in more than 15 years, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of fans flocking to see them since they last got back together in the early 2010s.

And, ensuring the late 80s, early 90s alternative vibes are faithfully kept alive all night, the Mondays brought Stereo MC’s and The Inspiral Carpets along for the ride.

Led by Rob Birch, the former’s electronic alternative hip-hop did a great job warming up the Derngate crowd to hits including Step It Up and Connected.

For the Carpets, it was just over a year since they last played in Northampton having headlined the Roadmender on the first date of their UK tour in 2023.

That gig was the band’s first for eight years and it’d be fair to say the pressure showed a little on the night.

It’s remarkable what difference 12 months can make with the songs and rapport between singer Stephen Holt, keyboard player Clint Boon and fans inside night and day compared to their previous show.

The band’s keyboard heavy alternative rock may be less dancey than the bands they’re sandwiched between, but hits including Two Worlds Collide, I Want You and Saturn 5 are lapped up by fans - while the entirety of the Derngate sings along in unison to This Is How It Feels.

When The Happy Mondays do arrive, it’s singer Rowetta, guitarist Mark Day, drummer Gary Whelan, keyboard player Dan Broad and bassist who kick off the band’s opener.

Their 13-song set is mainly made up of tracks from 1988 album Bummed and its successor Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches.

And, while frontman Ryder remains fairly stationary throughout the band’s set - as you’d hope Bez was a blur all night.

With a maraca in each hand, the band’s dancer and percussionist spent every minute of every song, dancing around the stage, going from side to side, reaching out towards fans and whipping up the Northampton crowd.

Ask anyone who’s seen the Mondays before and they’ll probably admit there’s been some amazing, but also ‘iffy’ performances over the years.

What’s clear from their Northampton gig is despite being in their fourth decade together, they’ve probably never sounded better.

Yes, Ryder’s vocals may not be what they were in their heyday but the fact the band is still here (sadly minus former bassist Paul Ryder) feels a bit of a miracle in itself.

Ryder and Bez share a great rapport between songs, talking to each other with the former occasionally introducing tracks with short antidotes.

As they power through their set highlights include Loose Fit and Tart Tart.

The final four songs of Happy Monday’s set couldn’t better define their iconic baggy, funky indie-psych sound.

Hallelujah is given the club mix treatment, Twenty-Four Hour Party People gets everyone singing along to it’s hook and the Derngate is illuminated with phones for the seminal Step On.

After leaving the stage briefly, the band return for an encore of Wrote For Luck.

The Happy Monday’s twenty-four hour partying days may be behind them, but in an era hungry for nostalgia, you can be certain they’ll be playing to packed venues if and when their next tour comes around.

Happy Mondays played:

Kinky Afro

God's Cop

Performance

Donovan

Dennis and Lois

Loose Fit

Mad Cyril

Tart Tart

Rave On

Hallelujah

24 Hour Party People

Step On

Encore:

Wrote for Luck