Happy Mondays at Glasgow’s Barrowland (gig review)

Me, Shaun Ryder, and Scotland’s biggest city all have history.

I went to Glasgow QMU late last year to see Ryder’s other unruly pack, Black Grape, and I left thoroughly disappointed.

It’s obvious that Ryder has enjoyed his fair share of riders (and everything in between) over the years, and it impacts his ability to perform.

But still, that Black Grape concert was a shambles. He didn’t know the names of his bandmates, who did their best to shepherd him through the gig. He barely remembered album titles, never mind song lyrics. And there was a lot of mumbling.

Okay, he’s hardly Andrea Bocelli, so if you’re going to a concert involving Ryder you know what you’re letting yourself in for. However, that performance felt like a series of incoherent WhatsApp messages.

The thing is, I’ve always had a soft spot for Happy Mondays.

They’re responsible for some of the greatest alternative songs of all time. They made indie kids dance. And the fact that they’re still standing, or at least leaning on mic stands, is a miracle.

They rolled into the Barrowland Ballroom for three nights to celebrate the thirty-five-year anniversary of Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, playing the album in full.

Surely, I thought, as I stood watching an impressive support slot from The Farm, lessons had been learned from the last visit to the city.

Not quite.

At times Ryder sang like Vic Reeves club singer. There were other moments he sounded worse but the crowd lapped it up nevertheless. They didn’t seem to care.

There were highlights that weren’t just caused by Indie Da’s not being able to work the flash on their mobiles.

‘Step On’ and ‘Dennis and Lois’ were brilliant and exciting and everything you’d want from the band. Also, the anti-war tone of ‘Loose Fit’ still hits hard. That in itself was a frustration, proof that Ryder is a far better songwriter than he’s often given credit for.

It just felt quite contrived and played out. Even Bez, who almost suffered a wardrobe malfunction and had to stop his madcap dancing to fasten his belt, wasn’t as entertaining as you’d hope.

By the time the album closer ‘Harmony’ came on, large gaps started to appear in the crowd. The bar, or the exit, beckoned.

It might only have been April, but the panto season had arrived early.