I have been looking forward to writing this post for a very long time. Eight hundred and fifty five days, to be precise. I went to a gig last night, my first since seeing Julian Cope at the Barbican in London on Saturday 8th February 2020. And what better band to break that painfully long withdrawal than Madness?
It shouldn't have been that long a gap, of course. We originally had tickets to see them in the summer of 2020. And then we found ourselves gripped by a global pandemic. Even as things started to ease in 2021, there were a couple of false starts: as previously documented, I had tickets to see both Scritti Politti in London and Manic Street Preachers in Bath and was unable to go to either. Madness was rescheduled for summer 2022 and there were times when even that looked like it might not come to pass. Thankfully, it did and I can honestly it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to.
This was also a special night as it's the first live concert that we've been to as a family, so a lot was riding on this being a fantastic experience for all. I needn't have worried.
The
setting was the gorgeous Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire and a
very short drive from home. Fortunately, after a variable week
weather-wise, the sun shone, the skies were clear and everything was
perfect for an outdoor gig. As you'll see from the lead photo, it was a
'seated' concert, with all manner of fold-ups, deck chairs, camping
seats and picnic blankets. We initially pitched up some way back, having arrived around 8.00pm, when many had already staked their claims.
We'd completely missed opening support act Emily Capell. Not someone I've heard of previously, but according to her website she "has it all, the voice, the talent and the
beehive". With influences including Blondie, Aztec Camera and The Clash (her debut album is called Combat Frock) and a lockdown cover of Madness' My Girl, she seems like a good fit for the bill, but realistically there was no way we were going to get Lady K to the venue any sooner than we did. I'm going to check out Emily's music on Bandcamp instead.
We did however arrive just in time see the second support slot from The Farm. I'll be honest, even in their early 90s heyday, The Farm were not an essential band for me, some way below Flowered Up and Jesus Jones, but I did like their cover of Stepping Stone and the Terry Farley remix of Groovy Train. They played a short, seven-song set, all the hits plus a new(ish) song, Moments In Time. The band were good, Peter Hooton's vocals were flat (but entirely as I remembered them from the studio recordings) and, in his between-song banter, he did make the most of the fact that Suggs had produced their most successful songs. The versions of Stepping Stone and Groovy Train were enjoyable. I'll mention that The Farm also covered Bankrobber by The Clash and leave it there. As (I think) Woody said on stage an hour or so later, "I'd like to thank The Farm...but I won't".
After what felt like a long wait, but probably wasn't, Madness took to the stage with Suggs covering for former Nutty Boy Carl Smyth for the introduction to One Step Beyond. And from there, a wave of mostly middle- and old-aged people rose from their seats and started moving like they'd been jolted like a cattle prod. It was an astonishing and wonderful sight, not least for the sea of bobbing fez-wearing heads. Me, I was grinning and dancing like a loon for the next 90 minutes or so.
It was pretty much hits all the way, interspersed with intros and short anecdotes from what appeared to be a happily lubricated Suggs. One Step Beyond was followed by Embarrassment before jumping into the Prince, the first of Madness' two Prince Buster covers.
There was room for a handful of the post-reunion songs too: NW5, Lovestruck and Mr. Apples, all of which seem to have been absorbed into the classic Madness songbook. A couple of new songs - Baby Burglar and If I Go Mad - have been performed in the past year or so and I really enjoyed them, but I noticed from the shuffling crowd that these seemed to be prompts to make a beeline for the toilets, numerous food van or beer stalls. For some, it was clearly the 1970s and 1980s songs and nothing else.
Looking at the setlists for The Ladykillers Tour at the end of 2021, this was a slightly shorter but largely identical set and running order. The mid-point on the previous tour appears to have swapped between Yesterday's Men and One Better Day. Instead, we got to hear Return Of The Los Palmas 7, to a rapturous reception from Clan Khayem and the thousands around us.
Any concerns that Lady K may not be into it were quickly allayed. She was up and moving with the rest of us from the start and surprised Mrs. K and I with the number of songs that she appeared to know the words to. She also got to tackle the eponymous snack from the Foot Long Hot Dog stand, so it was a win-win all round.
The set concluded with Madness' smash hit cover of It Must Be Love and after a very short break, they were back on stage for a couple of encores. The break was the cue for many people to start packing up and making their way back to their cars, kind of reminding me of those cinema audiences who get up and out as soon as the credits start rolling, inevitably missing the mid- or post-credit scenes.
What the departing crowd may have heard but not seen was the second Prince Buster cover, the titular Madness, accompanied by backdrop and side video montages of - who else - our bozo PM. What it meant for us was a late opportunity to join the crowd a fair bit closer to the stage for this and the final, triumphant encore of Night Boat To Cairo.
And then it was all over. Except it wasn't, really. As we all paused for a moment, grabbed our things and joined the flowing crowd back to the car park, the PA tape deck kicked in and our journey was soundtracked by the strains of Monty Python's Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life and a singalong from a happy, exuberant mass of people, all riding high on what had just happened.
Getting out of the car park was the expected organised chaos but the Madness playlist carried us through it and we had the added advantage of a very short trip home, reflecting on what had been a fantastic night. I'd almost forgotten how good it feels to be in a field with thousands of incredibly happy people, enjoying great music and each others' company. Having been forcibly separated from the experience for so long just made the coming back to it even more special. In retrospect, perhaps it was always meant to be be that the first gig back would be Madness, who were originally supposed to be my 'next' gig, way back in 2020. What a night.
And no, I wasn’t tempted to buy a fez from the merch stand.
Of course, this morning my hips, knees and back are reminding me that dancing like a madman for an hour and a half is not normal behaviour. My body has lodged a formal complaint and I will be paying for this for at least the next few days. My mind doesn't give a monkeys though, it had an unforgettable time.
Today's selection is last night's setlist, with the exception of the as-yet-unreleased Baby Burglar and If I Go Mad, though I've included YouTube links below to live performances of both from 2021. So, you get 18 solid gold songs, all in well under an hour. In keeping with the previous 'best of' compilations Complete Madness, Utter Madness and Total Madness, today's post title pretty much suggested itself.
Nothing more, nothing less, Madness are the best.
1) One Step Beyond (1979)
2) Embarrassment (Album Version) (1980)
3) The Prince (Single Version) (Cover of Prince Buster) (1979)
4) NW5 (2007)
5) My Girl (Album Version) (1979)
6) The Sun And The Rain (Album Version) (1983)
8) Wings Of A Dove (Single Version) (1983)
9) Return Of The Los Palmas 7 (1980)
10) Lovestruck (1999)
12) Shut Up (Album Version) (1981)
13) Bed & Breakfast Man (1979)
14) Mr. Apples (Radio Mix) (2016)
15) House Of Fun (1982)
16) Baggy Trousers (Album Version) (1980)
17) Our House (Single Version) (1982)
18) It Must Be Love (Single Version) (Cover of Labi Siffre) (1981)
19) Madness (Single Version) (Cover of Prince Buster) (1979)
20) Night Boat To Cairo (1979)
