A few years ago, 2008 I think, we saw Happy Mondays, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Inspiral Carpets and others at Andy Rourke's Versus Cancer bash in Manchester. What a great night it was too.
But cameo appearances are one thing. I'm always a bit dubious when bands from yesteryear get back together with a great fanfare, so I was only cautiously excited when I heard that Happy Mondays were getting together for a tour, even with the original line up. What really clinched it for me was the news that the original Inspiral Carpets would also be playing with them. That did it, got to get tickets. Here's a treat from 1990:
5 comments:
Inspirals were certainly a superior band to the Mondays, who I always thought to be decent but a tad over-rated.
Let's be honest, if they hadn't been Mancs, scallies and off their collective boxes for about three years solid, would they really have been that big?
Gotta like Hallelujah and Wrote for Luck though...
More than other bands around then Happy Mondays were 'of the time', which is why I wasn't as excited as some about them reforming. I fear many who didn't live through those years, especially in Manchester, will see them on the strength of a couple of popular songs and the legend and come away wondering what all the fuss was about.
I remember Billy Connolly telling how he was in Hollywood pining for the Gorbals. He went back and thought "my God, what a shit hole". It was actually his youth he was pining for. Could be the same with so many who go to see Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
You're absolutely right that the Mondays owed more of their success to their 'Madchester' status than anyone else. Bands like the Roses, Charlatans, Inspirals tend to stand up better when viewed solely as artists and a body of work.
I suppose they can always pretend it's 1989 all over again, but the feeling of a moment is something that one can never recapture.
I'm waiting for the latest New Order reunion. Guess it will be next time either Barney or Hooky run out of money? It's sometimes forgotten that without them the whole 'Madchester' thing would never have happened.
'90 was a bit of a classic year for me. Was at Wembley to see United lift the FA Cup, saw David Bowie and James at Maine Road (only time I set foot in the shithole if United weren't there) before clearing off to Latin America for rest of year and most of '91. Happy days!!
I remember that 3-3 cup final and thinking it might have been the greatest of all time. Palace had one hell of a team back then.
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