News / And now…the Happy Mondays
JUST weeks after Shetland had a taste of major league rock ‘n’ roll with Status Quo, the islands are to welcome legendary Manchester band Happy Mondays.
The show on 15 December at Lerwick’s new music venue Mareel will be the only Scottish date of their European tour and by far the smallest on their schedule.
Happy Mondays are one of the most influential bands to emerge from the 1990s Britpop era, whose turbulent history has seen them split and reform several times.
The 2012 incarnation features the original line-up of front man Shaun Ryder, his brother Paul on bass, Gary Whelan (drums), Rowetta (backing vocals), Mark Day (guitar), Paul “PD” Davis (keyboards) and dancer Mark “Bez” Berry.
Klub Revolution promoter Alan McLeod said he could hardly believe the band had agreed to play the Shetland concert, after two previous attempts to bring singer Ryder to the isles fell through.
McLeod said he had last seen Happy Mondays at Glasgow’s O2 Academy where 2,500 tickets costing more than £40 sold out in half an hour. The Shetland tickets go on sale for £50 at 1pm on Tuesday 11 September from Mareel or Islesburgh Community Centre, online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org or by phone on 01595 745555.
McLeod said the gig had only been finalised over the past 72 hours and he thanked Shetland Arts and the band’s management for their help.
“We did a couple of solo gigs with Shaun Ryder last year that ironically were going to be held in Mareel but ended up happening in Aberdeen and Edinburgh,” he said.
“When they got back together again I punted the idea of them coming up to Shetland, never thinking of Mareel because it’s so small.
“Last month the agent asked if I was still serious. Unfortunately the Clickimin wasn’t available on the date they could come, so we put the idea out on Facebook of holding it at Mareel and pushing up the ticket price and we got a fairly positive response.
“The great thing is the Happy Mondays want to come here. It’s the only date on their European tour and they said it’s the one that is really standing out for them.
“They are absolutely looking forward to it, and they are very impressed with the venue and its technical specifications. We even pointed out they could have a professional recording of the show two hours after the gig.”
He said this was a huge investment for Klub Revolution and he was “astounded and delighted” the band had agreed to play in the isles.
“We’ve worked very hard over the last three days to make sure this gig happens, now we just need to hope the ferry sails. If it gets up here with their equipment we should be OK.”
This is a happier day for McLeod than his last promotion when he had to rearrange a show by DJ Kutski because Mareel was not quite complete, only for the performer to be fog-bound on the mainland.
Meanwhile Happy Mondays are writing their first album with the original line-up for more than 20 years.
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