Madness - Fremantle Arts Centre, 10th April 2017
Words: Todd Lockley
The local watering holes around Fremantle were full of punters enjoying a pre-show drink or two ahead of time as Camden Town's local ska legends Madness were in town for one and a half sold out shows at the picturesque Fremantle Art Centre. Surprising many by starting 15 minutes early, the 10 band members scurried onstage to a simple "4, 3, 2, 1 Lift Off!".
"Aaaaah, look at us now" exclaimed charismatic front man Graham "Suggs" McPherson as the band launched into the title song from latest offering Can't Stop Us Now. Every member wore sunglasses at night, adding to the coolness that battled the drunk throughout the evening.
The effervescent Embarrassment had all the bums previously hovering just off the grassy ground up into action as the urge to dance become far too hard to resist. The Prince was an early dedication to Prince Buster and included the first of many amazing saxophone solos by the amazing Lee "Kix" Thompson.
Suggs finally addressed the rowdy audience that had gathered on a school night and proclaimed "We are not One Direction. We are not Take That. We are not even Kylie Minogue. We are Madness!" As a massive neon Madness light lit up the stage, in what was quite frankly a smashing light show throughout the 26 song setlist.
My Girl had even the fair weather Madness fans thinking to themselves that with "a little more exposure that they could be a band I could easily fall in love with". There were a few filler moments throughout the show but it never drew tedious, always energy and light to spike the mind and move the feet. The band were here to promote their latest offering and during the middle part that's just what they did.
The dedications and tributes flowed throughout the evening, with Blackbird, an ode to Amy Winehouse, given special mention. But it was the bands' love of AC/DC that brought about the greatest banter, with Chris Foreman recollecting a story of a time spent with Angus Young and mistaking the "Angus, Angus" chants as ones for his beloved band.
"Aaaaah, look at us now" exclaimed charismatic front man Graham "Suggs" McPherson as the band launched into the title song from latest offering Can't Stop Us Now. Every member wore sunglasses at night, adding to the coolness that battled the drunk throughout the evening.
The effervescent Embarrassment had all the bums previously hovering just off the grassy ground up into action as the urge to dance become far too hard to resist. The Prince was an early dedication to Prince Buster and included the first of many amazing saxophone solos by the amazing Lee "Kix" Thompson.
Suggs finally addressed the rowdy audience that had gathered on a school night and proclaimed "We are not One Direction. We are not Take That. We are not even Kylie Minogue. We are Madness!" As a massive neon Madness light lit up the stage, in what was quite frankly a smashing light show throughout the 26 song setlist.
My Girl had even the fair weather Madness fans thinking to themselves that with "a little more exposure that they could be a band I could easily fall in love with". There were a few filler moments throughout the show but it never drew tedious, always energy and light to spike the mind and move the feet. The band were here to promote their latest offering and during the middle part that's just what they did.
The dedications and tributes flowed throughout the evening, with Blackbird, an ode to Amy Winehouse, given special mention. But it was the bands' love of AC/DC that brought about the greatest banter, with Chris Foreman recollecting a story of a time spent with Angus Young and mistaking the "Angus, Angus" chants as ones for his beloved band.
He was also chuffed after spotting the statue of Bon Scott at Fremantle’s Fishing Boat Habour and even mentioned visiting the resting place of Scott before launching into a rousing rendition of Highway To Hell whilst the rest of the band took a breather.
This madness rolled into the raucous hit filled finale to the main set, leading off with the band's second ever single One Step Beyond. Up next, House Of Fun had every single person standing reaching for their phone so they can show someone who isn't at all interested their completely shitty sounding recording at work the next day.
A request to "turn off that fucking spotlight!" to "Chris" in the lighting booth was ignored, but oh what fun we had as the all out skank-athon Baggy Trousers had whole families bouncing about with delight. The adorable Our House was the highlight of the night, with the solo sent out to Angus Young. It was such a feel good vibe that the night could have ended right there and then.
It Must Be Love was a pretty finale to what a lot of people thought was the entire show. It was not! They returned for an encore as folks flooded for the exit. "Where you all going? There's no traffic!" queried Suggs. "Hey Suggs, I know where they've went, they've all gone to buy tickets to tomorrow nights show!" quipped Thompson before the band dove into Mr Apples. But it still wasn’t over. A rollicking Madness and Night Boat to Cairo rounded out the evening, with a bunch of miniature Madness fans bouncing about the stage with the legendary performers.
It was a celebration of an incredibly underrated band, very light on the Mad, but extremely heavy on the happiness.
This madness rolled into the raucous hit filled finale to the main set, leading off with the band's second ever single One Step Beyond. Up next, House Of Fun had every single person standing reaching for their phone so they can show someone who isn't at all interested their completely shitty sounding recording at work the next day.
A request to "turn off that fucking spotlight!" to "Chris" in the lighting booth was ignored, but oh what fun we had as the all out skank-athon Baggy Trousers had whole families bouncing about with delight. The adorable Our House was the highlight of the night, with the solo sent out to Angus Young. It was such a feel good vibe that the night could have ended right there and then.
It Must Be Love was a pretty finale to what a lot of people thought was the entire show. It was not! They returned for an encore as folks flooded for the exit. "Where you all going? There's no traffic!" queried Suggs. "Hey Suggs, I know where they've went, they've all gone to buy tickets to tomorrow nights show!" quipped Thompson before the band dove into Mr Apples. But it still wasn’t over. A rollicking Madness and Night Boat to Cairo rounded out the evening, with a bunch of miniature Madness fans bouncing about the stage with the legendary performers.
It was a celebration of an incredibly underrated band, very light on the Mad, but extremely heavy on the happiness.