Yahoo News Madness are truly epic at Plymouth Summer Sessions
Madness, madness, they call it madness. And it certainly was on the Hoe as NW5’s greatest export created the mother of all knees-ups. From the front barriers to the beer tents people were skanking and stomping as Madness turned Plymouth Summer Sessions into a Saturday night party.
Arriving on stage to the Thunderbirds theme, it was lift-off as One Step Beyond got the jamboree jumping, and it didn’t let up. Dressed in their sharp suits and hats, Madness were as much natty boys as nutty boys, and talking of hats, the audience was awash with them: fezzes, trilbies, and pork pies.
There were also lots of DMs, Harringtons and black-and-white checks. Plymouth had really made the effort. It was worth it.
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Jaunty renditions of Embarrassment, The Prince, new track C’est La Vie, NW5, My Girl, and The Sun and the Moon tested the stamina of a jubilant crowd. They were up to it though.
Suggs, always a wit, had even done his homework on the city. “Just got back from America,” he said. “They wouldn’t be there without you lot.” He knew all about the Plymouth Brethren too.
Playing for about 90 minutes, Madness performed 22 songs, with highlights including the funky new number Run For Your Life, and first-album favourite Bed and Breakfast Man. “It was going to be a single,” said Suggs. “I don’t know why it wasn’t, perhaps there is still time.”
Then things took a truly nutty turn as Chris Foreman took over vocals for a mind-boggling cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. Everyone loved it.
With Lee Thompson blowing up a storm all evening on the sax, Chris then yelled: “It’s showtime!” Cue a rousing finale with plenty of singing along to House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House and It Must Be Love. An encore of Madness and Night Boat to Cairo was so good even the rain, which had stayed away all evening, came out to see it.
“Is this cultural appropriation?” asked Suggs. “Or just a tea towel on my head?” What it was, was great fun.
And it had all started five hours earlier with a fine set from Hardwicke Circus, not easy for the boys with many people still coming into the Hoe arena. Lightning Seeds were great too, with the audience in fine voice for Three Lions, singing along 24-hours before England kicked off in the Euros.
The smart and catchy singles Lucky You, Life of Riley and Pure went down a treat. Marvellous. There’s another one.
The Zutons performed a tight set too, all the better when Abi Harding was blowing her sax. But the 50-minute performance was, perhaps, a little too long. When Dave McCabe sang the opening line of Don’t Ever Think (Too Much): “I’m standing on the edge of a cliff…” Some wag shouted: “Jump.”
There was a feeling that perhaps Lighting Seeds should have gone on after the Zutons, with the “football’s coming home” mass chorus having built momentum nicely before the main attraction. But the Zutons sure had their moment when Valerie brought back the sing-a-long vibe.
People love to join in, and those three bands each gave them a chance, which they took like a striker gobbling up a loose ball. Special mention, too, to the woman who signs the lyrics during the performances. Not an easy job and performed with energy, swiftness and a smile on her face.
She wasn’t the only one smiling at the end of a great third night at the Summer Sessions. The music continues this evening with Sting, Blondie and Germein.
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