Thirty-five years after Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches first soundtracked dancefloors, festivals and questionable life choices around the globe, Happy Mondays rolled into Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Saturday night with a simple mission: remind everyone why nobody ever did it quite like Madchester’s favourite troublemakers.
Before the band even appeared, the mood was set perfectly. The house speakers served up a lovingly curated ’90s mixtape featuring fellow Manchester royalty like The Stone Roses, The Smiths, and Oasis turning the theatre into a communal nostalgia trip. Judging by the bucket hats, band tees and pin badges on display, the audience were more than ready for it.
While Shaun Ryder remains the voice of Happy Mondays, it was arguably Bez who stole the show. Then again, when doesn’t he?
His royal Bezness
Armed with a pair of glowing orange maracas, Bez spent the evening doing what only Bez can do. Dancing, shimmying, grinning and engaging with fans as though the barrier simply didn’t exist. He accepted phones from the crowd, read messages from devoted punters, exchanged fist bumps, shook hands and generally made every person in the front rows feel like they were part of the performance.
At one point his enthusiastic dancing almost resulted in disaster when his trousers threatened to abandon ship altogether, forcing a quick dash to the side of the stage for emergency repairs. The crowd loved every second of it.
The man is a living legend, and Sydney treated him accordingly.
It’s a stitch-up!
Musically, Happy Mondays delivered a career-spanning set packed with the grooves and swagger that helped define an era. Hits “Loose Fit”, “Kinky Afro” and the inevitable “Step On“ landed exactly as they should, transforming the Enmore into a sea of bouncing bodies, loud voices and raised arms.
Ryder was perhaps a little quieter than some might have expected, but his trademark wit remained firmly intact. Between songs he offered amusing commentary about being stitched up, joking about the challenge of hitting some of the higher notes.
Fortunately, outstanding vocalist Firouzeh Razavi was more than capable of carrying those moments. Stepping into the difficult position left vacant by Rowetta‘s departure, Razavi delivered powerhouse vocals throughout the night and brought more than enough energy to the band’s classic material.
You’ll be glad to know that Happy Mondays remain gloriously imperfect, endlessly entertaining and completely unique. For two hours at the Enmore, Manchester’s most chaotic success story proved that good grooves, great songs and a little bit of Bez can still make the world feel like one big, happy party.
Blokbstr party
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Header image credit: Pete Dovgan – you can see more of Pete’s photos from the night HERE
