Happy Mondays, Thunder Speaks @ The Gov, Adelaide 6/9/2026
Thirty-five years on, the Happy Mondays arrived at The Gov with pills, thrills and enough bellyaches to make Monday morning feel suitably dubious.
The band that helped turn the late-’80s and early-’90s UK club scene into a cultural movement arrived in Tarntanya/Adelaide with plenty of history behind them, but minimal interest in behaving like a heritage act.
Opening the night, Adelaide’s Thunder Speaks provided a suitably left-field introduction. Their bass-heavy electronic rock, driven by hammering drums, synths and unique sonic detours, was an interesting fit for the bill. Their distinctly psychedelic edge was enough to sound like they weren’t attempting to recreate anyone’s past. It was an assured set. Although their sound perhaps demanded more attention than a support act typically gets from a crowd waiting for someone else to play.
Then came Shaun Ryder, Bez and the Happy Mondays.
Celebrating Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, they played the full track list in order, reminding us just how much ground that album covered.
The opening bars of Kinky Afro clearly set their intentions. This was not going to be a polite trip down memory lane. Ryder’s vocals have waned over the years. They were famously rough around the edges, sounding as though they had been dragged through decades of late nights and poor choices. Meanwhile, Bez remained Bez. His contribution was less conventional percussionist and more human exclamation mark. He danced and shook his maracas around the stage with the same eccentric energy that made him an unlikely star of the Madchester era. Ne’er stopping to breathe, Bez was as committed to the cause as he was in 1991.
Original members Mark Day (guitar) and Gary Whelan (drums) were just as good as they were in their heyday (maybe better). Together with Mikey Shine (bass) and Dan Broad (musical director/guitar/keys), they brought the atmospheric Madchester vibe all the way from the UK. The indie guitars, dance music and club culture collided right in front of us.
Highlights were undoubtedly the singles that helped make Happy Mondays one of Manchester’s greatest exports of the 90s: Kinky Afro, Loose Fit, Step On, and Bob’s Yer Uncle.
When the final chords of Harmony echoed through The Gov, Bez proclaimed, “We finished it. Thirty fucking five years, can you believe that?” I think everyone in the room would agree that we couldn’t quite believe it either.
Giving fans plenty to sink their teeth into, the music didn’t stop there. Act two, not an encore because Ryder “can’t be arsed with an encore”, was a solid four-song collection of hits. Hallelujah, Mad Cyril, 24 Hour Party People and Wrote for Luck had the crowd singing and dancing their way through the final stretch.
The Happy Mondays didn’t try to convince us that 1991 never ended. Instead, the night was about revisiting what made the era so memorable, while giving a room full of Gen Xers the chance to relive their glory days for one night.
And judging by the crowd, nobody was complaining.
Live Review By Anita Kertes