GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE
Who
I only thought afterwards that I really should have gone along with my V99 t-shirt to show off that I'd been there a stonking 13 years beforehand but it would have been even better to wear a Boon Army t-shirt, not that I saw any of those tonight either. I'd also seen Shaun Ryder making a very brief cameo with Gorillaz to perform Dare back in 2005, where he came across as very pissed and off-key, but I think it would be fair to say that the fame of the Mondays had risen considerably thanks to their almost-shameless use of reality television as a promotional device. As I have had no interest in any of that stuff since when Preston and Chantelle were on Celebrity Big Brother way back in 2006 though I simply can't comment, but it does make me wonder how many fans tonight had come along as a result of this? I also somewhat regretted not going to Shaun Ryder's solo show in Birmingham back in 2011 as it would have been awesome to hear Reverend Black Grape and Dare live, but if I recall it was rather expensive. The reason Happy Mondays wouldn't include these songs in their set is presumably because they wanted to prove themselves as a "significant" act and also Shaun could rightly say that if we wanted to hear that stuff we should have gone along to his solo set, which is fair enough really. This truly was the year of Manchester and astonishingly this show cost exactly the same price as seeing New Order playing by themselves had done! It would be nice if The Smiths reformed to for completism yet I suspect that's even less likely now as they wouldn't want to be seen as copying the Roses and view themselves as a more important act, although I'd proclaim that they're not on the same level, not even close. Maybe I'd change my mind if I saw them live though, and if I was bothered enough I could always have gone up to Manchester to see Morrissey playing Manchester Arena. It would be even nicer if Oasis got back together but I was hopeful that Liam's Beady Eye would be in crowd-pleasing mood for their Roses support slot, and I'll never quite forgive Oasis for not splitting up after I saw them way back at Leeds 2000!
I could even go and see The Hollies if I liked them enough or was determined to complete "the set" but all these Manchester gigs have come about at the same time purely by chance rather than design. In fact it's even broader than that as I seemed to be seeing almost exclusively English bands in 2012. I believe it's coincidence but maybe I found myself subconsciously overcome by patriotic fervour in the year of the Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics! Apart from the Manchester set, my year also took in Half Man Half Biscuit, The Bootleg Beatles, The Complete Beatles, Franz Ferdinand, The Vaccines, Editors, Blur and The Specials, and if it wasn't for a few "foreign" acts at Field Day then you could say this made 2012 my most English year ever! I'd booked the same hotel as I had done for New Order and this show followed just two weeks afterwards, with the intermediate week featuring a trip to Ludlow and fantastic live shows from Paul Merton and Derren Brown. With this in mind it was no wonder I have taken over a week before beginning to write this up, even if I am aided by some very comprehensive notes, although the silver lining was that I was no longer under pressure to work weekends! Back to the subject of the Happy Mondays, they're another band I don't really remember getting into but I presume I followed my New Order method by picking out their Greatest Hits one day and gradually getting into it, and I'd always loved the handful of Black Grape I know. It may have been Loose Fit that got me into the Mondays, but I don't really recall. I didn't know a single song by the band apart from those on that compilation but I heard it along with Inspiral Carpets hits a good few times to try and familiarise myself with its charms. I was also surprised to read that Bez wouldn't be doing any freaky dancing because apparently his joints are playing up, which was pretty hard to believe?
I was baffled that the show didn't sell out immediately as Inspiral Carpets were announced as support from the outset and if anything I'd been worried I may not get tickets at all. Also the bands were playing arena level in both Manchester and Sheffield which made me wonder why they couldn't manage the same in the Midlands. I can only think that it's a northern thing, but good music is good music regardless of where in the country you may live! On the day I made an early start and was hoping for good weather after the washout of the previous few weeks but it never crossed my mind that it would be so hot I'd actually end up quite badly sunburned. I also was feeling slightly ill as my brother had been eating snails the night before and the very thought of that makes me feel sick to my stomach. However for the most part it was a fantastically effective and downright wonderful day, with an early highlight being managing to check into the hotel a full five hours before the advertised check-in time with no problems whatsoever. It may have been a bit of a waste of a room for them considering I promptly headed out again until the evening but it was so nice to have a space of my own to leave my stuff in. I'd invested quite a lot of thought into creating a jam-packed sightseeing itinerary to make up for the disappointment of my last trip to the second city but it was only on the day itself that I figured out an even better way to do it by getting a train to University first and then gradually heading back into town. Once at University I got to see the hugely impressive tower but there was an exam taking place in the Great Hall so I wasn't free to roam as I'd had liked. I was also delighted to find out that the Barber Institute was located on campus and checked out their very impressive collection of art, which was only slightly ruined by their no photography policy. I did get my revenge however by not donating or buying the refreshments I so badly wanted but nevertheless I was on a roll.
I followed the road back into the city before deciding I wanted to do a "bonus" botanical gardens at Winterbourne, which was very impressive as there also was a house and access to a large lake I'd also intended to see but hadn't realised that you could only do so from either the gardens or the golf course. After enjoying a nice beer and shortcake outside - by now realising that I really should have taken a hat along - I carried onto the main Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which were perfectly nice but a bit too busy and simply not as pretty as Winterbourne's had been. My plan now was to find The Two Towers which had supposedly inspired Tolkien near where he'd lived as a boy but I was let down by my poor map and somehow ended up back at the Five Ways junction. I then figured I'd go to the nice cinema to see Piranha 3DD but there was a big queue and not enough time so I decided to press on. After a bit of wandering I was very pleased to locate The Two Towers, which were particularly fine structures to find on a residential estate and I hope will one day be turned into the proper tourist attractions they deserve to be. After going via the hotel to have a quick shower I then saw Piranha 3DD as originally planned, which really was the icing on the cake of my day as I'd already seen so many sights I'd have presumed I would have required two days to do it in, so to throw in a trip to the cinema as well and to know I'd get back home on Sunday and have a whole day to catch up with stuff was particularly impressive. The film was pretty good too, featuring a fantastically random guest slot from The Hoff and some great comedy moments, although the 3-D in the lousy Odeon cinema hurt my eyes more than is usual. I followed this up by heading to the cheap pub on Broad Street near the canal where I tasted a so-so mixed grill with a mediocre pint, making me wish I knew where the decent pubs in Birmingham were besides the generic-if-very-nice Wetherspoons which was just too rammed for me to find a table. I would have gone with an Indian or Chinese but I knew I had an all you can eat buffet to look forwards to on Sunday already!
But anyway, arguably I've spent enough time reviewing my sightseeing and it would have been enough for me to just have said I'd had a busy but very enjoyable day in Birmingham? I briefly headed back to my hotel to drop off my 3-D glasses before heading to the Academy - the new one this time - where I got in shortly after 7pm and again encountered no hassle about the camera on my person. Damn right too as everybody now has good cameras on their phones anyway, but presumably there was a policy in place which they didn't feel the need to enforce? I'd figured that everyone else would have arrived early due to the big-name support band but surprisingly I had no issues in securing a good position, before deciding to stand on the right so I could be in front of the legendary Clint Boon when he plays that tune and as I'd remembered his position on the stage. This quietness and the fact it had been slow to sell out didn't bode well but I needn't had worried as the place was rammed well before 8pm. It was quite interesting to compare the old Academy with the new and to realise that, apart from the awkward location, the new one was generally a nicer room to be in. It was much less scruffy and the balcony didn't overhang so badly, but also quite crucially it was a bit airier. Also for once the balcony had been opened up and people were taking their seats, which was a surprise as I'd almost started to wonder if it had been closed down for health and safety reasons or something. Clint Boon's keyboards had already been set up and were much smaller than I'd remembered from last time, but I guess that's just the way it goes when you're technically just a support act. The equipment for both bands had already been pretty much set up and it was quite extraordinary to think that a group who had once sold out two nights at Manchester Academy were now reduced to being a mere support band, but that's partly down to the same Manchester effect that means the Mondays can't seem to play arena-sized venues in the Midlands.
The Inspirals took to the stage - presumably at around 8pm - with Joe as I expected, at the end of which the crowd earned massive brownie points by following up the applause with a loud round of moos! Clint said "yes, moo" before later explaining to the ignorant that we were mooing due to the band's cow imagery rather than booing! The big question mark had been how the band would fare with a "new" singer and astonishingly I don't think I'd even have realised if no-one had told me. Maybe he didn't quite have the same stage presence as Tom Hingley but the personnel change didn't detract from the performance at all. It must be weird for Stephen Holt to rejoin a band he'd left before they'd had any hits - although most likely some of the songs had been written when he was still a member - but he made the tunes his own. Also the bassist seemed in a positive mood and to be appreciative of the crowd reaction - which was as crazed as it can really get for a support slot - and without going to the effort of checking all my previous gig reviews I think it's safe to say that this was the best support at an indoor gig I'd ever witnessed. Next up was She Comes In The Fall which I enjoyed as I'd never done before, in particular due to the power at which Clint Boon sings the title phrase, and it showcases the band at their best. I'd thought that Directing Traffik was a newbie and was impressed by it but in fact I've now discovered it dates back to their debut album, which meant this set was exclusively focused on the oldies with the exception of You're So Good For Me, which is their new single and was played next. It went very much for a keyboard-heavy classic Inspiral Carpets sound and it would be intriguing to hear it again. As well as the mooing it was clear from the overall reaction that quite a reasonable proportion of the crowd were familiar with the songs and the loudest roar of approval was for the arrival of This Is How It Feels, which was introduced as a song for both Manchester teams. I recall one of my university friends declaring it once as the greatest song ever and, although he may not have been entirely serious, it certainly is a rare perfect tune and it made for my first video of the evening, although it came out muffled as my finger may have blocked the hole for the sound.
In fact this was actually the day before Manchester United went head-to-head with Manchester City for the Premiership title and it seemed astonishing that neither band mentioned this properly, or perhaps they did and I didn't realise amongst all the excitement? After Generations followed the Mark E Smith sample to herald the arrival of I Want You, which was powerful although the volume of the band drowned out his pre-recorded vocals, making me wish that Mark had turned up so I could also add another Manchester legend to my 2012 list! Move was introduced as a Manchester classic and it has never sounded so good to my ears before, being a rare slower number in their set. The last time I'd seen the Inspirals it had almost felt like they were playing in slow motion but this didn't appear to be a problem at this show, with only This Is How It Feels slowed down, but that was purely to create maximum impact. Clint Boon then announced that they only had three songs left, clarifying that they would all be slices of classic British pop. Clint seems to love his band and their tunes - and now Tom Hingley has left I think it's fair to say this is Clint's band - but it's certainly hard to argue with their best moments and it's quite rare for me to know more songs by the support band than the main act! Dragging Me Down went down well but was overshadowed by the extraordinary drum solo at the outset of Sackville, which was not a tune I'd expected to hear but turned out to be a high point. There really was only one way it could end though and my prediction was proved correct with an array of space noises and a countdown heralding the arrival of Saturn 5! It was clear that most people here were quite familiar with the song and the band even sped it up for maximum impact. This was the end though and there was no encore, although they could certainly have got away with one if they had anything else up their sleeves.
Towards the end the singer had asked us if we were looking forwards to the Mondays and the answer was clearly a resounding yes, but in terms of classic pop music arguably the Carpets had already provided the high point of the evening. They could easily have played for longer too, finding room for such gems as Come Back Tomorrow, Find Out Why, Caravan, Please Be Cruel, Two Worlds Collide or Uniform, although the very best songs had indeed been all present and correct. The DJ then re-emerged to play his records directly in front of my section of the crowd and I even spotted some of the band's equipment had CBX! written on it as the stage was rearranged for the Mondays. The DJ had gone down well before the Inspirals as he had had the revolutionary idea of playing great songs that everybody knew, coincidentally being songs of the kind that I would be playing myself if I were in his shoes! The first one I recalled was Movin' On Up, which exposed how ignorant a lot of people are of the wonders of The Scream, but as he went on he ramped it up and up and our section of the crowd required very little to get them going. Reverend Black Grape was obviously going to be a crowd pleaser under these circumstances, but this was followed by even more incendiary cuts such as Song 2, Beggin' You and A Message To You Rudy by The Specials. The Only One I Know was greeted with more chaos than it deserved but presumably this was down to the Manchester connection, and Going Underground was clearly going to get everyone moving! The reception of our part of the crowd to the DJs attempts to get us going were completely ridiculous as a moshpit and crush developed so crazed that the show calmed down considerably by the time the Mondays took to the stage. By this point I'd moved far enough forwards to be on the second row and practically touching the barrier, with a couple of Dad's in front of me sheltering their bored daughters from the realities of a gig crush while these children were just playing on their phones and seemingly had little interest in being at the show.
Their Dad's were clearly considering taking them out of the crowd as the DJ even played White Riot by The Clash in an insane effort to get us even more pumped up, with the tossers behind me attempting to start a slam pit, which thankfully due to my skills at standing my ground didn't cause as much injury to the people in front as it otherwise would have done. I had to tell one of these morons to mind my glasses but thankfully they made it through the show without further incident. My clothes didn't quite survive unscathed though as some tosser decided to spill beer down my back and a few more thought it would be hilarious to throw their drinks in the air. It all was a bit like that classic moment before Franz Ferdinand at Reading 2006 when Huw Stephens played an extended version of Bucovina by Shantel, although sadly it was more twattish and less good-natured. This reaction was over the top as something's wrong when a crowd go crazier to a few well-chosen records than the live band they've paid to see, although the enthusiasm was impressive considering how slow the show had been to sell out and I was very much caught up in it as I had had no intention beforehand of being right in the thick of a gig crush for the first time since a Gogol Bordello show back in 2010! The DJ randomly announced that he'd be able to play a few more because Bez was taking a dump and a bouncer told off a guy for having his elbows in the air and hitting everybody else. It was possibly the same bouncer who was rather amusingly hit full in the face by an entire pint of beer to a roar of amusement from the crowd, but he admirably maintained his calm and located a towel to dry himself off. It was so crazy that a few people were even pulled out before the band even took to the stage, although on the positive side there were no wanker crowdsurfers to contend with at any point.
Finally it was show-time as the DJ drew his set to a close and his deck was wheeled off just before the band took to the stage. Strangely enough it was Bez who came on to introduce the band before leaving the stage again and around this point there was a disgusting smell as if someone had managed to shit themselves, which astonishingly I can confirm from my V99 review had also happened 13 years beforehand during a Mondays show. Whether it is just coincidence or if a West Midlands Happy Mondays fan gets his kicks out of defecating when his favourite band take to the stage I cannot say, but it was horrible! The show kicked off strongly with Loose Fit and incredibly the crowd calmed down considerably. It was very long rendition and the set was incredibly loud throughout and I was pleased to see that Shaun Ryder no longer needed an autocue to remember his lyrics. Shaun looked terrifyingly healthy and was in great voice, in stark contrast to his brilliant-yet-off-key cameo at the Gorillaz gig back in 2005. He'd even lost weight and you know something's not right when Shaun Ryder looks healthier than you do! The Mondays clearly weren't afraid to unleash two of their three finest tunes at the outset as they swiftly followed Loose Fit with an ecstatic take on Kinky Afro, which proved extraordinary as Bez took to the front of the stage for some high-powered freaky dancing, no doubt taking advice from the DJ in paying particular attention to inciting our section of the crowd! I took quite a few photos throughout, especially of Bez, and you can see my best effort above, and I even shot a video for some of Kinky Afro but it sadly came out muffled, although this may have been inevitable as it was so bloody loud! The band had a very simple backdrop of an array of flashing dots and the stage-set could have come straight out of the 1980s. Shaun took great pleasure out of proclaiming the vintage of the songs by declaring what year they were from, and although the appearance of the show was very 80s the band had aged better than could be expected and everything still sounded vibrant and exciting.
This high-powered intro was followed by three songs I didn't know and this was the point where I wish I knew a bit more by the band beyond their Greatest Hits. As well as being in fine voice and appearance Shaun also seemed to be on very witty form, repeatedly pretending to interview his band to ask what they wanted to say to Birmingham. The drummer gave a shout-out to the surrounding areas and Wolverhampton was roundly booed - tossers - whereas one of the group spent the whole show playing the smallest and simplest keyboard set-up I'd ever seen. Particular reverence was reserved for Shaun's brother Paul who Shaun openly told us he hadn't spoken to for ten years but that they were speaking and getting along well at the moment, which he found strange as they usually didn't get on. Paul simply said hi when asked to speak to us but he had a classic cool appearance to him and seemed to contribute a lot to that classic Happy Mondays sound. Amazingly Bez spent much of the show barely visible right at the back, nodding his head occasionally but apparently no longer with the energy to dance throughout the show. It's a shame as you wouldn't have thought that freaky dancing could have such an effect on one's joints and you would've thought that the group would have found something else for him to do, but apparently not! Visually the real revelation was Rowetta, who apparently was 46 years old but could easily have passed for a girl of half that age. She was wearing what appeared to me to be a Scottish-themed kilted outfit and it was particularly hilarious when she objected to Shaun for saying she was fifty, declaring she wasn't old, and a brilliant - though sadly slightly muted - chanting of MILF started up! Rowetta played on quite a few of the songs but on occasion she retreated to the back with Bez to leave the core five-piece band to play on without them. Although proceedings had relatively calmed down it was still a bit of a crush and the crowd were clearly enthusiastic for these songs, with 24 Hour Party People going down especially well. I'd also heard a few people shouting for Hallelujah which also was greeted warmly, and this certainly was a most un-Brummie like reaction from a Birmingham audience!
One of my favourites is the naughty groove that is Bob's Yer Uncle, which Shaun declared to be like incest for some reason, and it may have been around this point where the bouncers started to distribute some water which I could desperately have done with a sip of. Quite a few songs passed me by I'm afraid to say but the main set drew to a close with a very exciting take on Step On, which is unarguably their greatest song and was quite rightly the chosen moment for Bez to re-emerge! I shot a video of the start which turned out pretty well apart from being blocked by a few heads - due to my considerate attitude in not holding the camera above my head - and it was cut short when some complete fuckwit knocked my camera, possibly maliciously. It's hardly as if I was the only one filming, and the moments when Bez were onstage were clearly the ones that the crowd most wanted to document! It wasn't quite as insane as I'd expected but I joined in some of the moshing and by now was a bit more confident as quite a few of the guys near me had glasses to protect as well, yet I was still cautious as I'll never forget I'd lost my glasses before in a relatively quiet moment at an Arctic Monkeys show. In the excitement of the moment Bez even picked Rowetta up and showed everyone her knickers, which she seemed very unimpressed with, although arguably this was all a cheeky part of the act. It would have been nice to have seen more of Bez but his moments in the spotlight were all the more special for their brevity. As the band left the stage I quite fancied the idea of heading towards the back to grab a drink but surprisingly there was no mass exodus so I didn't really have any opportunity to escape. I did take a few steps back though but this may have been a mistake as I was just heading into the heat of the moshpit, but thankfully with the biggest hit out of the way the crowd were happy to calm down rather than going insane for some random b-sides. Speaking of random b-sides, the encore started with Jellybean, which I've read is a 2007 release from the Mondays final album Uncle Dysfunktional.
Shaun had said before the show that the band had no intention of writing any new material and they planned these gigs to be a final triumphant jaunt for the classic line-up while interest was at its highest. His honestly is commendable and it's telling that he claimed Ian Brown had reformed The Stone Roses to help pay for his divorce before embarking on a money-making reunion of his own! In a final amusing moment Shaun went back to interview his guitarist, asking us to applaud him for playing both lead and rhythm guitar, which should hardly be necessary in a group of seven, and also asking him about his rationale behind a change of instruments. After the guitarist explained that he'd switched from a pink to a yellow guitar, Shaun exclaimed "fucking hell, this man knows his stuff!" to much amusement. The finale though was, perhaps inevitably, Wrote For Luck, which was greeted warmly yet not quite as madly as I'd expected. I was disappointed that Bez didn't appear again, but he may well have showed up for the ovation which I pretty much missed in the excitement! The show finished at 10:50pm after just the one encore and with the opportunity not taken for a cheesy collaboration between the Inspirals and Mondays. It took a while to get outside but it was still faster than at the old Academy as we didn't have to climb up loads of stairs first. I'd even briefly forgotten that I was in a different room! I bypassed the dodgy t-shirt sellers but stopped off for a Sprite before the easy walk back to my hotel. I heard a guy stating on the way out that the Mondays barely have any songs, just good riffs, and I can kind of understand that and arguably it's why the Inspirals seem the better band, even though their set was much less exciting. My ears were whistling and they would continue to do so for several days afterwards, and I stayed up a bit later nursing a rare headache plus sunburn and aching feet from all the time I'd spent outside. After a very welcome shower I then checked out my photos and videos and wrote up some notes. It had been an utterly triumphant day out and, although I doubt very much I'll see either band again, if 2012 was to be the year when I say goodbye to the music of Manchester then it was going very well so far.
Mark: 8.5/10
Happy Mondays
Inspiral Carpets
Where
Birmingham O2 Academy
When
12th May 2012
Price
£35.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front, in the moshpit
Comments
Here's a little slice of history as this is the first ever show on my gig pages that I've billed as a joint headliner, although technically Happy Mondays were the top of the ticket and probably were the biggest draw for most. In fact I was much more familiar with the Inspirals after watching them play one of two nights at Manchester Academy way back in 2003 in front of a manic crowd just after they'd reformed. I'd also seen the bass player embarrass himself with a terrible performance as Replica, supporting Shed Seven back in 2001, but more positively had seen the wonderful Clint Boon Experience! twice and Clint Boon DJing twice - once at a Manchester club night and most recently at the Dpercussion festival in 2006, also in Manchester. I'd heard that their lead singer Tom Hingley had announced that the band were splitting up before Clint Boon pointed out that the band were alive and well but he'd simply walked out before announcing that they'd be regrouping with their original singer Stephen Holt. In fact he'd left way back in 1989 before they'd had any notable hits and Noel Gallagher had also auditioned to be their new singer as he was their roadie back then! It was an intriguing prospect to see the band with a different singer but I believe the main reason that the Happy Mondays were heading the bill was that they had decided on the back of The Stone Roses reunion to regroup with their "classic" seven member line-up, and the appetite to see them back together again was enormous. In fact I'd seen them way back at V99 and looking back I gave them a pretty bad review as I didn't know any songs and Bez came across as a bit of a twat, but I'd since acquired their Greatest Hits and gradually fell for the freaky dancing and their clutch of great tunes.
Setlist (Inspiral Carpets)
Joe
She Comes In The Fall
Directing Traffik
You're So Good For Me
This Is How It Feels
Generations
I Want You
Move
Dragging Me Down
Sackville
Saturn 5
Setlist (Happy Mondays)
Loose Fit
Kinky Afro
Dennis & Lois
Donovan
God's Cop
Judge Fudge
24 Hour Party People
Rave On
Cowboy Dave
Hallelujah
Bob's Yer Uncle
Holiday
Mad Cyril
Step On
Jellybean
Wrote For Luck
