Happy Mondays

UEA LCR, Norwich

Given Shaun Ryder's drug-related problems in the past and the shaky warm-up gigs the Happy Mondays played in the summer before starting this tour, there were doubts about whether the “Madchester” legends would come up to scratch.

So to see the clean and lucid Ryder and the rest of the band as sharp as they were last night was a pleasure. After opening with the 1990 hit Kinky Afro they introduced songs from new album Uncle Dysfunktional, all of them strong and tightly performed but never going to be crowd-pleasers in the same way as the band's classic material.

They really hit their stride with a trio of their best-loved tracks: Loose Fit, which epitomised the Manchester baggy era, Hallelujah and then Step On, perhaps their greatest moment. The line-up features three original members: drummer Gary Whelan, Ryder, static and brooding behind dark sunglasses, and the inimitable Bez.

A great performance that rolled the years back to the early 1990s showing their new material remains strong.