It's the sort of bill that's had thousands dusting down their old Joe Bloggs hoodies and donning the bucket hats once more as two of Madchester's finest hit the road again more than 30 years after both bands were fixtures in the UK's top ten.

Even at the time, Oldham's Inspiral Carpets always felt a distant third behind the Mondays and Stone Roses delirious double-header. But as tonight's set proves they were arguably the most consistent of the lot, producing a succession of brilliant singles that stretched beyond the baggy era and on into Britpop. 

These days, only guitarist Graham Lambert and keyboardist Clint Boon remain of their classic line-up (Boon's son Oscar plays bass) although interestingly Tom Hingley's vocals are replaced by the Carpets' original singer, Stephen Holt, who left in 1989 with the band on the cusp of success. 

It's virtually impossible to these ears to hear the difference between Holt and Hingley as the band kick of with early classic Joe which set the template for the classic Inspiral Carpets sound with Boon's soaring organ melodies combining with brooding lyrics. 

I Want You sounds just as thrilling as it did when the Carpet's teamed up with The Fall's Mark E Smith for one of the great Top of the Pops performances but the real highlight is the double-whammy of She Comes in the Fall's military beat-based garage rock followed by the kitchen sink sadness of This Is How It Feels.

What to make of the Happy Mondays in 2024 is anyone's guess but there's a feeling that the fact that they're all still here (minus bassist Paul Ryder, who sadly died in 2022) is worthy of celebration in itself. 

Shaun Ryder (61) and Bez (59) have become national treasures as likely to be seen on Googlebox as they are on stage and why that is a brilliant thing it can't help from the sheer wondrous excellence of the music they somehow produced in their heyday. 

1990's Thrills 'n Pills and Bellyaches probably remains their peak and the first five songs of the set milk its perfect distillation of indie dance for all its worth from Kinky Afro's psychedelic grooves and earworm hooks to Dennis and Lois' thuggish poetry ("Honey how's your breathing / If it stops for good we'll be leaving / And honey how's your daughter /Did you teach 'er what he's taught yer").

Ryder struggles at times to keep up with the band and frequently takes a sit down so it's left and Bez and Rowetta to do the heavy lifting and they don't disappoint with her euphoric vocals filling the gaps perfectly while every goggle-eyed gurn to the crowd by the former is met with whoops of appreciation. 

While a simple karaoke-style night of nostalgia would've been perfectly acceptable and even expected tonight, full marks then for playing Performance and Mad Cyril from 1989's Bummed followed by the even earlier Tart Tart ("they can't play it and I can't sing it," jokes Ryder). These reminders of a stranger, more surreal, off-kilter Mondays are important and boost the claim that no one has really sounded like them before or since. 

The home run sees Hallelujah and Step On incite plenty of hands in the air dad-dancing and a huge sounding Wrote For Luck rounds it all off with one of Ryder's finest looping into the ether.