October 9th, Southampton Guildhall

I went to this show courtesy of a marketing contact, and it was never going to be my cup of tea.
Which is always entirely the wrong attitude to start with and difficult to recover from. The support act helped - a stunning set from Sunshine Underground and their blend of PiL, The Weddoes, Buzzcocks etc. But too, too loud.
The Mondays started badly. The sound was bloody awful and opening the set with a pisspoor version of th classic Kinky Affro was a mistake. I held my head in my hands. Oh no - it really is going to bea s bad as I feared...
Ryder was unintelligible and the light show was blinding. In the literal sense. The band did improve though and from the cacophonous sonic soup of the first half of the set they moved into a distinctly better second phase once the sound levels were sorted. For the last third, I was even able to make out different instruments! The earlier material held the set together and included Hallelujah (best track), Loose Fit and Step On which was terminally Bad, as well as a surprising (competent and enjoyable) version of 24 Hour Party People to close the set.
And just a one track encore? "For Tony. The dead bloke." Ryder is Ryder and Ryder is an asshole. Twenty years ago, Bez on drugs dancing his face off was a pretty cool gimmick. Now he just wanders to and fro across the stage looking ridiculous.
£25 for a 70 minute show? I don't think so! Thank heavens for the pink wrist band.
Of the new stuff, only Dysfunktional Uncle seemed to have any form, and most of the rest came over as rambling and ultimately pointless.