Madness at Southampton Summer Session June 2024

Madness created a unique sound that stood out in their chart heyday from 1980 to 1986 following the adoption of the band name and arrival of Graham McPherson, aka Suggs, with 16 singles reaching the UK Top Ten. Known for their two-tone ska derivative music with a dominant brass section they built up a strong following from their North London base. They broke up in 1988 but reformed a few years later and have toured and released music on and off ever since. The loyal fan base was in evidence as they continued their latest UK Tour C’est la Vie at the Southampton summer sessions in the Guildhall Square. The black and white clothing, bucket hats, Fedoras and Fez’s were much in evidence amongst the gathering. After the support band Kid Kapichi played an energetic punk rock set the stage was set for an 8.15 start but with England playing their first Euro match, Madness did not come on until 8.30, after England had scored!

   They were immediately into the stride with their rich distinctive musical style with One Step Beyond(1979,7 in the singles chart) and followed up with darker Embarrassment (1980, 4 in charts) and their tribute to their inspiration Jamaican Prince Buster with The Prince (1979, 16^th in chart). They then switched to their most recent hit, C’est la vie, the title single from their thirteenth studio album released in 2023. The album became their first Number 1 album in UK. Then came NW5 ( 2008 single) a tribute to the postal area where the band originated and their earlier hit My Girl (1979, No 3). Each song was accompanied by some bright projected graphics and videos on the rear wall.

        However, it was the songs that were their biggest hits that really had the audience  jumping and singing along with the best of the middle order of the set being Wings of a Dove (1983, No 2) before they finally burst into life, after a short interlude for a faintly bizarre solo rendition of Livin’ on  a Prayer, with a glorious six song finale and encore. House of Fun (1982, Peak 1), Baggy Trousers (1980 peak 3), Our House (1982, peak5), It must be Love (1981, Peak 4), Madness (1979) and Night Boat to Cairo (1980, Peak 6).

        The Band recreated their famous sound and delighted their loyal fan base In the audience, but it did all feel a bit rushed with Suggs’s chat between songs limited and restrained as if he was tired after a long US tour and three consecutive nights for the UK tour. It was all wrapped up within 90 minutes. Even when he introduced the rest of the ten-piece band  we could not hear their names nor gave them time  for short sole burst or to acknowledge them from the audience.

    But 45 years on they are still going strong, still creating their distinctive sound and delighting the crowds with those classic hits that helped define a decade and moved so many of us from the  nihilistic anarchy of the Punk era into something more upbeat and joyous that filled the House with Fun.

 

Rolling Stones Hyde Park June 2022

After a rather long afternoon watching Vista Kicks, Phoebe Bridge and War on Drugs, none of which really set the stage alight (especially the latter’s very dull retro style set in which every song sounded the same!) it was finally time for the Rolling Stones to make their return visit to Hyde Park, sixty years after their first London gig at The Marquee club in Soho. From the off they reminded us of why they are the self-styled “greatest rock and roll band“ as they entertained the 65000 crowd with their greatest hits and some less well-known ones too.

A short video reminded us (as if we needed it) about their drummer Charlie Watts who died last year and who they latter dedicated the concert to and set the tone for a lively nostalgic and celebratory concert by the remaining band members. 

They burst on to the stage with an opening three numbers of “Street Fighting Man”(1968), “19th Nervous Breakdown”(1965) and “Tumbling Dice” (1971) with Jagger prancing and preening across the stage belying his 78 years of age while Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods behind him looked like two haggard old men having the time of their lives together. And it sounded great!

Next up was the 1968 track “Out of Time” and 1967 “She's a Rainbow” before Mick Jagger got fully into the swing with “You Can't Always Get What You Want” (1968) and started the audience conducting of the call backs with his pointing arms aloft and swaggered down the walkway into the crowd just a few feet away from where I was standing. Pure rock and roll magic. The recent single “Living in a Ghost Town” (2020) with its images of empty streets reminding us of when it was written. This was followed by “Can't You Hear Me Knocking” (1970) before a raucous “Honky Tonk Women” (1969) with bright cartoon graphics to back it up.

After that Jagger introduced the band and left the stage for a change of costume and perhaps a lie down while Keith Richards warbled his way through two songs “Slipping Away”(1989) and “Connection”(1967). Jagger returned refreshed for “Miss You”(1977) and “Midnight Rambler”(1969) before ramping it up for the big finale.

“Paint It Black” (1966) was instantly recognisable as the black paint dripped down the screen and the intro played and was a show highlight as the sun set and the lights flicked across the raised hands of the crowd mostly with phones in hand! It was followed by two more classic rock tunes “Start Me Up” (1979) and a powerful emotional “Gimme Shelter”(1969) with Sasha Haynes before the wonderful “Jumpin' Jack Flash”(1968) closed the show.

The inevitable encore came with “Sympathy for the Devil”(1968) and of course “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction”(1965) sending the crowd home satisfied after looking back on a musical history that spanned a lifetime. It was a good selection of their songs, no room for “Angie”, “Brown Sugar”, ”let’s spend the night together” or “its only rock roll (but I like it) but a brilliant nostalgic two hours of entertainment and worth the premium Gold Circle entrance fee.