Happy Mondays celebrate 35th anniversary of Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches album with live show in Sheffield
Happy Mondays are back on the road in 2026, joined by two bands who shared a stage with them 35 years ago.
The tour includes a date at The Octagon in Sheffield on March 22 when the support acts will be The Farm and Northside who were both on the bill for the Happy Mondays show at Elland Road, Leeds in 1991.
Happy Mondays percussionist and freaky dancer Bez said: “I love being on the road with the Mondays, there is no better feeling than playing to the fans of live music.” The band’s frontman Shaun Ryder said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back on tour with the Mondays in 2026, especially with our old mates The Farm who are touring with us.”
The tour celebrates the 35th anniversary of the Happy Monday’s landmark album Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches which stayed on the UK album charts for six months, peaking at number four. Highlights from the album, including the singles Step On, Kinky Afro and Loose Fit, will be played live at The Foundry gig in addition to other hits and fan favourites, such as 24 Hour Party People, Hallelujah, Judge Fudge and W.F.L.
Happy Mondays became the pioneers of the Madchester sound after signing to Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in the late Eighties, blending their love of funk, rock, psychedelia and house with the sounds of the UK’s emerging rave scene.
The Happy Mondays’ reputation as one of Britain’s most influential and loved bands was recognised in 2016 when they won the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award.
Special guests The Farm made their breakthrough in 1990, with the first of their nine Top 40 singles being the huge hits Groovy Train and the evergreen All Together Now. Both of these top ten singles featured on debut album Spartacus, which topped the Official UK Albums Chart following its release in 1991.
The Farm’s lead singer Peter Hooton said: “We are absolutely delighted to be joining the Happy Mondays as special guests on their forthcoming tour. We go back a long way, having first met them at one of our gigs at the Boardwalk Manchester in 1986, when their style and attitude struck a chord. We also played with them at the legendary Elland Road gig in 1991 and toured with them in 2005, so we can’t wait for these gigs. It will be like a meeting of the tribes once again!”
Completing the bill will be the Happy Mondays’ fellow Mancunians and former Factory Records labelmates Northside, whose association with the burgeoning Madchester scene was cemented when their singles Shall We Take A Trip (which was banned by the BBC for its references to LSD), My Rising Star and Take 5 all made the UK Top 50 Singles Chart in 1990. The following year, Northside’s debut album Chicken Rhythms reached number 19 in the UK Albums Chart.
Tickets cost £47.85 for the gig at The Octagon which is unreserved standing. Book at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/happy-mondays-sheffield-22-03-2026/event/1F006315D8511E96