Stone Valley Festival North

 Last time I saw the Mondays live, little did I know the next time I would be nearly a decade later - in a field round the corner from my mams.

SVF do festivals up and down the country, and for the last seven years the North version has been up in the Durham dales. This year though they decided to relocate to the former priest seminary of Ushaw College. Myself originally coming from the local pit village Ushaw Moor, the prospect of seeing some top bands literally on home soil was appealing.

Saturday, post Exeter City (H), me and the kids took in the sights, sounds, funny smells and fire eaters of SVF. As we were settling in some lad with no pupils gave Seth a plastic AK-47. 

We were all Spartacus for The Farm, Hootons firm performing some classic 90s tunes - Groovy Train and Stepping Stone amongst others, cumulating with a sing along All Together (Now). Seth took this opportunity during a pro peace song to machine gun down the lead singer. 

The Undertones next up. Jimmy Jimmy got the boys dancing and my favourite My Perfect Cousin up shortly after. Tiredness was creeping in for the youngest Seth so we called for mam to pick us up - the pre teens had had their kicks for one night, we left as the crowd bounced along to Sharkey's hit.

Following night just myself and the eldest Jacob ventured along, couldn't risk being pulled away before Sunday's Mondays. We also came armed with blankets, Berghaus, camping chairs and cans.

Arrived a bit later due to work, From The Jam already mid set but caught the Tube (Station), That's Entertainment and a few others before an encore of Going Underground.

Cast were a Britpop band quite frankly I'd forgotten all about, but soon recalled after plenty of energy and hit after hit. I guess they were Alright, guess they were fine. 

Finally Happy Mondays. Jayboy could barely contain his excitement bless him - up late on a school night to see a bunch of ramshackle lunatics he'd only heard from dad's records before. Out they came to Kinky before a bit banter with the crowd, X asking Bez the MasterChef to cook 'im sumfin' up. Plenty baggy classics followed, mainly consisting of Pills Thrills tunes.

The bairn announced early that he was going to sit down if he didn't know the song. He didn't sit down once, and drew some approving comments from festival goers - "he's got the moves hasn't he?" and "You've taught him well" as he grooved round like Dennis and Lois.

Fairly short set of one hour, finishing of course with Step On. Shaun apologized for not being able to do WFL due to timings but it mattered not - I'd seen the Mondays basically at my home with my eldest son. Hallelujah.

Mondays Set list

Kinky Afro

God's Cop

Donovan

Loose Fit

Dennis & Lois

Clap your Hands

Bob's Yer Uncle

Twenty Four Hour Party People

Hallelujah

Step On

Performance

 

Loose Fit (Other Mondays collaborations)

 As promised here's the (not so much) good, the bad and the ugly of some of Happy Mondays other designer collaborations.

I wrote once upon a time on this blog about 1999's surprising link up with Admiral. The 1970s football shirt supremos had been bust for about a decade and hoped their big come back would be boosted by Mondays reformation in 99. I can't really say that worked for them as the last time I saw any Admiral gear was in the TU section of Sainsbury's. 

That said they made some smart tour tees, plus back stage crew specials, in a Mondays yellow. And also they stuck to what they knew, producing an awesome red football shirt sold at gigs - a few years ago I spied one on eBay for 40 quid and passed on it. The one I found on Google images was over £300. Sigh.

Next up was last year's Palarse effort. The skateboarding crew went a long way to beat the competition, namely COVID19, to be the worst thing to come out of 2020. Perhaps slightly unfair, the overpriced tees are ok, using central stations design but changing the P for Palaces slant. And there's a crazed Bez.

But the hats, shirts and jacket? Dam, kuff. Decent on a record sleeve but on your person? Yes please? No thanks.

Loose Fix (Happy Mondays x Levi Clothing)

 Posted about bands x brands collabs once upon a time on this blog. With a great deal of suspicion and contempt.

The latest one involves one of my favourite bands - The Mondays - who have had one or two questionable collabs in the past, Admiral and Palace spring to mind (stay tuned for more on these..)

This collaboration seems a bit more on point as the designers are actually Central Station, who worked with Factory Records creating artwork for the Mondays early work. And it's these late 80s iconic designs that are emblazoned on Levi gear.

The t shirts are the pick of the bunch. Clean, crisp, white long sleeved tee coming in a Loose Fit, obviously, with one of four LP covers on the front - singles Freaky Dancin' or Tart Tart and albums Squirrel & Gman or Bummed. If that wasn't cool enough, they come folded up in its own record sleeve box.

Double double good.

This is England 1990

Shall be returning soon. And the backdrop to the attitude/clobber this time shall be Acid House.

To celebrate this, Talent House are running a competition for artists to create a flyer inspired by the whole scene. I'm no artist but plugging a fellow connoisseurs effort Josh Parky. If you like his effort follow the link and click like.

Rave on.

SWR - Close the Dam

New solo material from Shaun Ryder. Sounding a lot fresher than the terrifying, yet compelling, 2003 drug fuelled self indulgence that was Amateur Night in the Big Top, SWR (as he's rebranded himself) releases two quality tunes.

Close the Dam is a solid club track unlike anything Ryder's penned before, potentially a glimpse of any future Mondays/Grape releases. Electric Scales is a proper glorious vintage Happy Mondays sound straight from the Squirrel and G Man heydays. And as he sings in the latter song, never mind the quality, feel the weight. Well, you get both for your buck with these two quality tracks.

That's double, double good.

Loaded Icons

 Loaded has had many iconic covers in its time, but many of my favourite icons have appeared on the front of the lads favourite. Here's a few...

Happy Mumdays

Hope you're sending her a bit Sunshine & Love today. Happy Mumdays.

Kinky Afro

"Son, I'm thirty. I only went with your mother coz she's dirty..."

I turned thirty today. At least I got a birthday tweet off Rowetta.

FAC461 - Graphic Album