Gig review: Madness @ Brixton Academy, London Dec 7
The pubs were packed full of likely lads on the run up to Brixton Academy and there was a buzz in the air as we joined the crowds lining up for the sold out ‘intimate’ gig at Brixton’s lovely Academy.
‘Women to the left’ barked out an attendant; we wondered if this was because there were so few ladies in the queue that they needed their own entry door in case they got squashed but once inside we saw that it was a more even crowd of geezers and their girls, even a few with their kids. The vibe was friendly and good natured, everyone was waiting for that moment to do the dance. If there is one thing Madness did for the guys of the world; it was to liberate them to dance floors with a move every bloke feels comfy imitating, usually with beer in hand.
We sat up the top in the circle, a bit like going to a gig in the cinema. You don’t get the full gig experience as you would if crammed into the sweaty pit below, but it was still full of people on their feet happy to be there.
Suggs and co came out in a blaze of colour; wearing sharp suits and sharper sunglasses. They whipped straight into One Step Beyond, which got the crowd nice and up for it from the beginning. They dipped delightfully into their extensive and fab back catalogue, as well as throwing in a few newer numbers and reggae covers here and there. But it was the classics that really got the crowd jumping – Embarrassment, Baggy Trousers, Our House, Shut Up, Wings of a Dove, It Must Be Love… You could practically name their greatest hits album and every song was a winner last night, roared to the Grecian rooftop.
Suggs witters on between the songs much like he does on Virgin Radio, throwing quirkily irrelevant asides here and there. There was much laughter at hearing "Chrissy Boy" Foreman is back after moonlighting with Bruce Springsteen - ‘shall we play a few Springsteen numbers then?’ asked Suggs wickedly. We laughed along with them, happy to share the joke.
There was no danger of them being a tribute act to themselves; it was like a party and we were all invited along to enjoy the fact that these boys from Camden with their ‘nutty sound’ had made it so far and so big. As such, there was no need for them to resort to the kind of displays that their contemporaries have to; this was simply London shouting along to the songs of their childhood and having the time of their lives.
Mandy Carter, MyVillage 08th December
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