HAPPY MONDAYS + THE FARM – BRIGHTON DOME 2.4.26
For a band whose legend has always been built as much on chaos as craft, Happy Mondays remain oddly difficult to categorise as a live act. They are not polished, they are not pristine, and they have never traded in technical perfection. What they do possess, however, is something far harder to fake: personality, chemistry and a catalogue still capable of drawing a fervorous crowd. At Brighton Dome on Thursday night, they brought all three in abundance, aided by a spirited support slot from fellow baggy-era survivors The Farm.
Long-time Liverpool legends ‘The Farm‘ had the task of warming up a crowd largely assembled for a full-scale Happy Mondays nostalgia trip, and they handled it with the kind of easy confidence that comes from knowing exactly what your songs can still do in a room. Their 30-minute set was short, efficient and packed with enough groove and goodwill to get the evening moving early.
There was already a sense they were in good spirits before they even hit the stage, helped by having spent a good part of the afternoon enjoying themselves and meeting the locals in Brighton’s much-loved Basketmakers Arms pub. Judging by the mood onstage, the city had clearly been treating them well.
They wasted little time getting into it, opening with ‘Groovy Train’, which remains a near-perfect curtain-raiser, all rolling momentum and instant uplift. ‘Mind’ and ‘Let The Music (Take Control)’ followed with enough rhythm and bite to shake off any early-evening reserve, while ‘Love See No Colour’ still carried a sincere emotional pull. Their cover of The Clash’s ‘Bankrobber’ added a rougher edge with plenty of crowd interaction, ‘Moment In Time’ was warmly received, and ‘All Together Now’ closed things exactly as expected: with pints raised, voices joined, and the Dome fully engaged. No reinvention, no unnecessary fuss, just a well-judged support set from a band who still know how to land their punches.
The Farm:
Peter Hooton – vocals
Keith Mullin – guitar
Steve Grimes – guitar, keyboards
Carl Hunter – bass guitar
Ben Leach – keyboards
Roy Boulter – drums
The Farm setlist:
‘Groovy Train’ (from 1991 ‘Spartacus’ album)
‘Mind’ (from 1992 ‘Love See No Colour’ album)
‘Let The Music (Take Control)’ (from 2025 ‘Let The Music (Take Control)’ album)
‘Love See No Colour’ (from 1992 ‘Love See No Colour’ album)
‘Bankrobber’ (Clash cover)
‘Moment In Time’ (from 2025 ‘Let The Music (Take Control)’ album)
‘All Together Now’ (from 1991 ‘Spartacus’ album)
After what seemed an age between sets, by the time the Happy Mondays arrived, the room was more than ready.
This latest tour marks the 35th anniversary of ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’, and rather than treating the milestone as an excuse for a greatest hits victory lap, the band gave the album the respect it deserves by playing it in full and in track order. Widely regarded as the record that captured the Mondays at their commercial and creative peak, it remains one of the defining albums of the Madchester era, all lopsided grooves, narcotic funk and grubby pop brilliance.
Brighton Dome proved an inspired setting for it. The venue’s history and grandeur might seem at odds with Happy Mondays’ scruffy hedonism on paper, but in practice it only heightened the contrast. This is a band that has always sounded like the morning after dressed up as the night before, and in the Dome’s warm acoustics those songs still hit with a strange, irresistible force.
After a tumultuous “intro”, they opened with ‘Kinky Afro’, greeted by a crowd ready to surrender from the first beat. ‘God’s Cop’, ‘Donovan’ and ‘Grandbag’s Funeral’ followed in quick succession, sounding less like museum pieces and more like reminders of how singular this band really were. So much of ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ still feels gloriously out of step with convention, too funky to be indie, too weird to be pop, too nuanced to be straightforward.
At the centre of it all, Shaun Ryder remains exactly the frontman Happy Mondays require and exactly the frontman no other band could plausibly have. Dressed in shorts and carrying himself with the same deadpan nonchalance that has long defined him, Ryder continues to deliver his lyrics in that unmistakable half-spoken, half-slurred cadence that somehow makes total sense within the Mondays universe. He does not so much perform in the traditional sense as inhabit the songs, wandering through them with the authority of someone who knows their oddness is the point.
Then there is Bez, still one of the most unlikely and indispensable figures in British music. Patrolling the front of the stage with his maracas in his own inimitable style, he remains a huge part of the Happy Mondays live ritual. His dancing, prowling and wide-eyed mischief are not decoration or nostalgia garnish – they are central to the whole atmosphere. The roar that greeted him every time he bounded back into view said everything about the affection Mondays fans still hold for him. He is not just part of the show. In many ways, he is the show.
A major asset throughout the night was singer Firouzeh (and Bez’s wife), whose powerful vocal performance brought freshness and punch to the set. Taking over a role so closely associated with the vocal brilliance of long-time band-member Rowetta could have felt like a difficult inheritance, but Firouzeh made it her own with confidence and authority. Her vocals gave songs like ‘Loose Fit’, ‘Dennis And Lois’ and ‘Step On’ added lift and colour, while also helping to sharpen the contrast between Ryder’s laconic cool and the more soulful side of the band’s sound. Rather than feeling like someone drafted in to recreate the past, she came across as an essential part of the present-day Mondays.
As it continued, ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ unfolded with real purpose. ‘Loose Fit’ landed with bounce and swagger, ‘Dennis And Lois’ retained its crooked charm, and ‘Bob’s Yer Uncle’ added to the record’s beautifully odd internal logic. ‘Step On’, inevitably, was massive: a room-wide singalong that remains as impossible to resist now as it was more than three decades ago. ‘Holiday’ and ‘Harmony’ rounded off the album set with warmth and confidence, underlining just how coherent and complete the record still feels when presented as a full piece.
The second half of the set loosened the reins further. ‘Hallelujah’ was received like a communal anthem, ‘Mad Cyril’ brought the sleaze and absurdity back into focus, and ‘Rave On’ and ‘Judge Fudge’ kept the set moving with enough groove and grit to stop the night becoming too reverential. ‘24 Hour Party People’, meanwhile, felt less like a song title than a summary of the entire enterprise.
By the time they closed with ‘Wrote for Luck’, Brighton Dome had been transformed into a sea of movement, grins and shouted lyrics. It was the perfect ending: baggy, hypnotic, gloriously grubby and still loaded with the sort of groove that modern indie bands have spent years trying and failing to replicate.
Happy Mondays have never been about precision, and anyone expecting neat edges or choreographed efficiency is missing the point entirely. What matters is the feel of it, the chemistry of it, the glorious looseness that has always made them unlike anybody else. At Brighton Dome, they once again demonstrated that magic blend is still very much intact.
Thirty-five years on from the release of ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’, Happy Mondays remain ragged, ridiculous and utterly themselves.
Happy Mondays:
Shaun Ryder – lead vocals
Mark “Bez” Berry – percussion, freaky dancing
Mark Day – guitar
Gary Whelan – drums
Dan Broad – musical director, guitar, keys
Firouzeh Berry – vocals
Happy Mondays setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Kinky Afro’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘God’s Cop’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Donovan’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Grandbag’s Funeral’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Loose Fit’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Dennis And Lois’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Bob’s Yer Uncle’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Step On’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Holiday’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Harmony’ (from 1990 ‘Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’ album)
‘Hallelujah’ (from 1989 ‘Madchester Rave On’ EP)
‘Mad Cyril’ (from 1988 ‘Bummed’ album)
‘Rave On’ (from 1989 ‘Madchester Rave On’ EP)
‘Judge Fudge’ (a 1991 single)
‘24 Hour Party People’ (from 1987 ‘Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)’ album)
‘Wrote For Luck’ (from 1988 ‘Bummed’ album)
