Post by Admin on Dec 3, 2012 17:55:23 GMT
By Thomas H Green2:12PM GMT 03 Dec 2012
Before Madness swung into their well-loved version of Labi Siffre’s It Must Be Love, near the end of their set, the giant screen behind them flashed “Nutso: Emma, will you marry me?”
There was a kerfuffle in the seats on the balcony of the Brighton Centre. A man in his forties in a pork pie hat and sharp brown rude boy suit was suddenly leapt on by an ecstatic woman. It looked very much like Emma had accepted Nutso’s proposal.
Such events are possibly all in a day’s work for Madness, the London pop group who, this year, following their performances at the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, seem finally to have attained the national-treasure status that they’ve long deserved.
Madness are a band of characters. Front man Suggs revelled in deadpan asides throughout the concert, even dryly imitating Freddie Mercury and briefly singing We Are the Champions. Meanwhile, at one point most of the band exited, leaving guitarist Chris Foreman to perform a wholly unlikely version of AC/DC’s Highway To Hell with gusto.
The stage set was akin to a 1940s ballroom big band, with extra sidemen boosting Madness’s usual line-up. They kicked off the gig with multiple lighting effects, before bursting into their opener, their well-loved second single One Step Beyond. Then again, Madness have a multitude of songs that have become hearty anthems of everyday life.
They played likeable songs from their new album, Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da, notably the twangy and slightly sinister Death of Rude Boy and the melancholy failed disco romance number, Never Knew Your Name, but, of course, it was the likes of Embarrassment, Baggy Trousers and the 1982 No 1 hit House of Fun that were the most rapturously received.
They hammered through a plethora of early-1980s gold with zest, from the sharp Grey Day to the gospel-tinged, steel-band flavoured Wings of a Dove, which induced a crowd sing-along.
By the time they reached the encore, the crowd was wildly noisy, and the band sensibly closed with two early-career corkers, the eponymous Madness and Night Boat To Cairo, while friends and relatives stormed the stage, adding to the jubilant party atmosphere.
Madness’s annual pre-Christmas tour may have become a somewhat comfortable and predictable fixture, but they were so peerlessly lovable and entertaining that it would be shame if it were to stop any time soon.
They gave it 4 out of 5
Jim
