Review: Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and Stereo MCs take over the Cambridge Corn Exchange

Iconic 80s/90s favourites the Happy Mondays were back at the Corn Exchange - a venue they’ve visited on a number occasions over the last 10 years - on Thursday, 11 April, headlining an impressive line-up which also included fellow groove-masters Stereo MCs and Inspiral Carpets.

Kicking things off were the Stereo MCs. As I could only remember a couple of their songs from back in the day - Step It Up and Connected - I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I have to say they were absolutely brilliant.

Their high-energy set had most of the capacity crowd dancing along. Singer/frontman led the proceedings with immense magnetism, ably backed on vocals by the equally captivating Cath Coffey.

I certainly wasn’t alone in my admiration of the band’s performance if what I overheard in the queue for the bar afterwards was anything to go by.

Next up were the Inspiral Carpets who, like the Mondays, made their name as part of the famed ‘Madchester’ music scene of the late 80s/early 90s.

While their music isn’t perhaps as danceable as that of the Stereo MCs, it’s definitely not without its appeal, She Comes in the Fall and Two Worlds Collide being early highlights.

Keyboard player/vocalist/band leader Clint Boon commented on the amount of bikes in Cambridge and that you have to take care when crossing the road. “In the centre of Oldham there are only about six bikes,” he noted.

Happily, there was room in the Carpets’ solid set for two of my favourite tunes by the band, the powerful This Is How It Feels and Saturn 5.

It’s safe to say that the crowd was suitably warmed up at this point and ready for the main event.

Out came the Mondays, Shaun as motionless-yet-likeable as ever, Bez dancing as only he can, prowling the stage with his maracas and mad stare, and the gorgeous and talented Rowetta adding a touch of glamour.

Behind them were original members, guitarist Mark Day and drummer Gaz Whelan, plus two younger musicians on keys and bass respectively (original bassist Paul Ryder, Shaun’s brother, died in 2022).

Many bands that have been around this long like to insert the odd new song into their set - not the Mondays, who drew entirely from the 80s and 90s (Shaun kept glancing at the setlist and declaring that he “wanted more 80s songs”).

I felt that the energy level dropped a little at times, due to some less inspiring (for me anyway) and more obscure material, but thankfully they found room for all the bona-fide classics - which were well-performed and which still sound as amazing as ever: Kinky Afro, Loose Fit, Hallelujah, Step On and Wrote for Luck, the final track of the evening, among them.

While understandably the focus tends to be on the charismatic ‘big three’ of Shaun, Bez and Rowetta, I feel Mark Day deserves a mention, his outstanding guitar work often going ‘under the radar’.

[Read more: Happy Mondays roll back the years at Cambridge Corn Exchange, Review: Inspiral Carpets return to Cambridge, Peter Hook: ‘Rock ‘n’ roll is littered with idiots – and I count myself as one of them’, Inspiral Carpets back for first shows since 2015, Tim Burgess of The Charlatans: ‘The fact that we’re still making music is an amazing thing’]

This was the third time I’d seen the Mondays and if they come back this way again (Shaun has talked about taking a break from touring and working on other projects), I for one would be clamouring to go back.

For more on Happy Mondays, visit happymondaysofficial.co.uk.