Divine Madness in the twilight zone

MADNESS + THE LIGHTNING SEEDS – BRIGHTON CENTRE 11.12.23

For a few years now, Madness have been tapping into the ‘Christmas Party night out’ market and this year was no exception, undertaking their 13 date ‘C’est La Vie tour’ which began in Aberdeen on 30th November and finishes in Birmingham on 16th December. The tour is in support of their chart-topping new album which was released on 17th November and is entitled ‘Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie’ which is their first release in seven years.

A staggering 47 years after their formation, the perennial favourites demonstrate they still have what it takes to attract a crowd, a number of the venues on the tour having capacities of 20,000+ including the O2 London and Manchester Arena. In this respect, the Brighton Centre with its relatively modest capacity of 5,000 was more of an intimate setting for the band.

Despite it being a Monday, the punters in attendance were ready to let their hair down. I observed large groups of people, many of whom probably remember Madness in their 80’s heyday noisily parading down West Street in anticipation of the fun to ensue. Upon arrival, the foyer was packed with excited folk taking selfies and sharing Madness memories. Brisk business was in evidence at the merch stall with many people purchasing a Madness trademark fez hat, a liberal peppering observed across the packed standing audience from my balcony seat along with a smattering of flashing paraphernalia.

Having been warmed up by the suited and booted ‘DJ Darren‘ stationed stage left who played some belting tunes throughout the evening, popular Liverpudlians The Lightning Seeds took to the stage at 7:30pm, evergreen lead singer Ian Broudie replete with five-piece entourage offered up an accomplished performance of their well known classics which need little introduction. They opened up a 10 track set with 1995 hit ‘Marvellous’ and closed it with a rousing rendition of their football anthem ‘Three Lions’ which had the crowd roaring their approval and clapping along. Pick of their set for me was their 1997 cover arrangement of The Byrds original ‘You Showed Me’ which peaked at number 8 and debut single ‘Pure’ released back in 1989 which marked their arrival on the British music scene.

Visually their set was nothing spectacular, the band performing with a large insignia above them and a blue curtain as a backdrop, the quality of the music doing the talking and the occasional crowd interaction from Broudie. I’d not caught them live before, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The only gripe I had was the number of people in the sections around me who insisted on talking throughout the performance, a definite no-no for those who were there to enjoy the music and disrespectful to say the very least.

The Lightning Seeds:
‘Marvellous’
‘Change’
‘Sense’
‘Emily Smiles’
‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’
‘You Showed Me’ (The Byrds cover) (Snippets of ‘Love Me Do’, ‘ Imagine’ and ‘All You Need Is Love’)
‘Lucky You’
‘The Life Of Riley’
‘Pure’
‘Three Lions’

lightningseeds.co.uk

After another ‘DJ Darren’ tour de force, it was time for the main event. The lights dimmed, the curtain rose, the screens flickered into life and Madness strode on stage, the prologue ‘Mr Beckett Sir’ booming through the speakers and grainy film appearing on said screens. Lining up this evening as a ten-piece ensemble, Madness included a three-piece brass section who played a prominent part in proceedings throughout and enhanced the live sound. ‘Theatre Of The Absurd’ was their first track after which Suggs proudly announced that we were to enjoy “a journey of past, present and the twilight” – and so it proved.

The set was essentially divided up into two ‘acts‘ ‘Act One’ and ‘Act Two’ (aka ‘Showtime’), the second being mainly reserved for the heavyweight hits and included a three song encore.

A number of tracks from the new album interspersed the set. Although I myself and I suspect many of the audience were not familiar with these new songs, they certainly had the quintessential Madness feel and quality, the pick being ‘Lockdown And Frack Off’ and ‘Baby Burglar’, both of which had a mischievous vibe. The album hit the number one UK spot upon release as we were reminded a few times by Suggs with humorous digs at Taylor Swift and Drake. Staggeringly, this achievement came an astonishing 31 years after their last chart-topper ‘Divine Madness’ in 1992.

Next up, we were taken back to the beginning of their career with 1979 debut single ‘The Prince’, a tribute to ska legend Prince Buster and my personal favourite track. With such a revered back catalogue to choose from, finalising the setlist and getting the balance between the classics and the new songs right can’t have been easy and at times, I felt the crowd lacked the energy they had done at previous shows. No matter, everyone was enjoying themselves and I was delighted to hear a very rare outing for 1981 chart number 4 ‘Grey Day’ and the appearance of 1983 number 2 ‘Wings Of A Dove’ in the first act, the latter saw Lee’s tambourine fly into the crowd.

As one would expect, Madness put a lot of effort into the visual aspects of their shows and tonight was no exception with four large screens behind them, an elongated split-screen above projecting complimentary themed backdrops to the songs and a large suspended glitter ball to bathe the audience in reflected light.

The banter between the band and the crowd was on-point and tee shirt guns were fired a couple of times. Special mention must go to saxophonist Lee Thompson who gave us an absolute masterclass in his craft, the instrument being essential to Madness’s unique sound.

The ‘big guns’ were brought out for ‘Act 2’ and you sensed this is what the crowd, both young and old, had come for. ‘One Step Beyond’ was first up, followed by ‘Baggy Trousers’, ‘Our House’ and Labi Siffre cover ‘It Must Be Love’. The band briefly left the stage, the lights went down and they were back for three more, First up, a tribute to the late Terry Hall with a cover of The Specials ‘Friday Night And Saturday Morning’ and an image of the great man beamed onto the screen. This was followed by the foot stomp inducing ‘Madness’ and ended with a lively rendition of the ever-popular 1980 hit ‘Night Boat To Cairo’. Following this, Suggs thanked the crowd and they departed the stage to the strains of Monty Python’s ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’.

Oh what fun we’d had.

Madness:
Graham “Suggs” McPherson – vocals (1977, 1978–1986, 1992–present)
Chris Foreman – guitar (1976–1986, 1992–2005, 2006–present)
Mike Barson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1976–1984, 1992–present)
Lee Thompson – saxophone, percussion, vocals (1976–1977, 1978–1986, 1992–present)
Dan Woodgate – drums, percussion (1978–1986, 1992–present)
Mark Bedford — bass (1978–1986, 1992–2009, 2012, 2013-present)

Madness setlist:
Prologue: ‘Mr Beckett Sir…’ (Intro tape)
Act One:
‘Theatre Of The Absurd’
‘The Prince’
‘Beginners 101’
‘My Girl’
‘Lockdown and Frack Off’
‘NW5’
‘C’est La Vie’
‘Embarrassment’
‘Baby Burglar’
‘Grey Day’
‘Run For Your Life’
‘Shut Up’
‘Round We Go’
‘Bed And Breakfast Man’
‘What On Earth Is It (You Take Me For?)’
‘Wings Of A Dove’
‘In My Street’
Act Two: 
‘One Step Beyond’ (Prince Buster cover)
‘House Of Fun’
‘Baggy Trousers’
‘Our House’
‘It Must Be Love’ (Labi Siffre cover)
(encore)
‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’ (The Specials cover)
‘Madness’ (Prince Buster cover)
‘Night Boat To Cairo’
‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ (Monty Python song) (Outro tape)

www.madness.co.uk