Post by Admin on Dec 8, 2012 8:56:23 GMT
From Liverpool Echo 08/12/12
THE party’s been rocking, on and off, for more than three decades now – and as 2012 comes to a close it’s most definitely on again.
And it’s been quite a year for the boys from Madness.
First they performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Then there was the appearance at the London Olympics’ closing ceremony, followed by them popping up at the V Festival.
Now the kings of 2-Tone ska are on the road with their Charge of the Mad Brigade tour to showcase their new album Oui Oui Si Si Da Da Ya Ya, with the party faithful out and in pogo-ing form at the ECHO arena last night.
With the entire arena floor a seething swell of fez-wearing fans of all ages (“it’s very nice to see a lot of balding heads but also lots of young people,” said Suggs) it didn’t take much to get the party started – just the opening bars of One Step Beyond, in fact.
Madness has a vast body of work to choose from, albeit mostly from the golden years between 1979 and 1984, and sensibly slotted a handful of new songs in among the classics in a set list that stretched to more than 20 numbers.
The pick of the latest numbers on show is Misery – its jaunty beat and delivery belying its title, and accompanied by a Mr Benn-style cartoon on the giant screen behind the band.
In fact, there was nifty lighting and crisp visuals throughout the 90-minute show.
Of the other new numbers, both My Girl 2 and Never Knew Your Name have a nostalgic whiff of Embarrassment about them, but musically don’t really go anywhere, while the dirgey Death of a Rude Boy seemed an odd choice with which to open the encore.
Still, it wasn’t enough to dampen the sheer joyousness of the party going on in the arena where you could feel the floor reverberating to 10,000 pairs of dancing feet.
Suggs, looking trim in a striped T-shirt, jacket and regulation Madness shades, also kept the happy atmosphere going with regular chatty asides.
But it’s the music that speaks for itself; Lovestruck, My Girl, The Sun and the Rain, Wings of a Dove – each a sing-a-long hit with another one queuing up right behind it.
There was the first public performance of Michael Caine in almost 20 years, and it all came to a glorious crescendo with a quartet of singalong classics – House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House and It Must Be Love.
It must indeed.
9 oui oui
Jim
THE party’s been rocking, on and off, for more than three decades now – and as 2012 comes to a close it’s most definitely on again.
And it’s been quite a year for the boys from Madness.
First they performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Then there was the appearance at the London Olympics’ closing ceremony, followed by them popping up at the V Festival.
Now the kings of 2-Tone ska are on the road with their Charge of the Mad Brigade tour to showcase their new album Oui Oui Si Si Da Da Ya Ya, with the party faithful out and in pogo-ing form at the ECHO arena last night.
With the entire arena floor a seething swell of fez-wearing fans of all ages (“it’s very nice to see a lot of balding heads but also lots of young people,” said Suggs) it didn’t take much to get the party started – just the opening bars of One Step Beyond, in fact.
Madness has a vast body of work to choose from, albeit mostly from the golden years between 1979 and 1984, and sensibly slotted a handful of new songs in among the classics in a set list that stretched to more than 20 numbers.
The pick of the latest numbers on show is Misery – its jaunty beat and delivery belying its title, and accompanied by a Mr Benn-style cartoon on the giant screen behind the band.
In fact, there was nifty lighting and crisp visuals throughout the 90-minute show.
Of the other new numbers, both My Girl 2 and Never Knew Your Name have a nostalgic whiff of Embarrassment about them, but musically don’t really go anywhere, while the dirgey Death of a Rude Boy seemed an odd choice with which to open the encore.
Still, it wasn’t enough to dampen the sheer joyousness of the party going on in the arena where you could feel the floor reverberating to 10,000 pairs of dancing feet.
Suggs, looking trim in a striped T-shirt, jacket and regulation Madness shades, also kept the happy atmosphere going with regular chatty asides.
But it’s the music that speaks for itself; Lovestruck, My Girl, The Sun and the Rain, Wings of a Dove – each a sing-a-long hit with another one queuing up right behind it.
There was the first public performance of Michael Caine in almost 20 years, and it all came to a glorious crescendo with a quartet of singalong classics – House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House and It Must Be Love.
It must indeed.
9 oui oui
Jim
Glad you enjoyed it Simon