Yahoo News Plymouth Summer Sessions: Saturday's line-up and what songs Madness could play
Plymouth Summer Sessions moves into its third day of musical magic with nutty boys Madness headlining tonight. The third night of the TK Maxx-sponsored event is again expected to attract a huge crowd to the Hoe for more than four hours of music.
Madness will top a bill which also contains the Zutons, Lightning Seeds and Hardwicke Circus. So here are some facts about each of the acts and what fans might expect from their setlists tonight:
Madness
Arising from the ska explosion of 1979, Madness went on to become a major pop act and one of the leading UK bands of the early 1980s. Hailing from Camden Town, in north London, the band enjoyed 16 top-ten hits and saw House of Fun hit the top spot in 1982.
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The band still features six of the seven original members, including singer Graham “Suggs” McPherson. Chris Foreman, on guitar, keyboard player Mike Barson, Lee Thompson on sax, Dan “Woody” Woodgate on drums and bassist Mark Bedford all survive from the glory days with only singer/dancer Cathal “Chas Smash” Smyth having left in 2014.
At their recent gig in New York, the band opened with early hits One Step Beyond, Embarrassment and the Prince, and followed with NW5, the hit My Girl, Taller Than You Are, the Sun and the Rain, C’est la Vie, Shut Up, Girl Why Don’t You?, If I Go Mad, live favourite Bed and Breakfast Man, Run for Your Life, the Max Romero cover Chase the Devil, Wings of a Dove and Mr Apples.
Amazingly, they also played Australian rockers AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, with Chris Foreman on vocals. The show was completed with the popular hits House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House, It Must be Love, Madness and Night Boat to Cairo.
The Zutons
Formed in Liverpool in 2001, the Zutons are perhaps most famous for their hit Valerie which was later turned into an even bigger hit by Mark Ronson with Amy Winehouse on vocals. The band’s debut album, Who Killed… the Zutons?, was a success too, as was its follow-up Tired of Hanging Around.
The group split in 2009 but got back together seven years later for a one-off show and then had a tour in 2019. Original member Dave McCabe (vocals/guitar), Sean Payne (drums) and Abi Harding (sax) remain in the band with the outfit augmented by Neil Bradley (keys), Jay Lewis (guitar) and Tim Cunningham (bass).
At their gig in Bury last month, the Zutons opened with Zuton Fever followed by Pauline, Creeping on the Dancefloor, Disappear, Valerie, Pressure Point, Best of Me, the Big Decider, Havana Gang Brawl, Rise, Remember Me, and You Will You Won’t. Other recent gigs have featured Confusion, Don’t Ever Think (Too Much),Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love?, Dirty Dancehall, and Hello Conscience.
Lightning Seeds
Also formed in Liverpool, this time in 1989, Lightning Seeds is the brainchild of former Big in Japan and Original Mirrors guitarist Ian Broudie. The group is best known for its Euro 96 collaboration with comics David Baddiel and Frank Skinner: Three Lions. The song has topped the charts three times - 1996, 1998 and 2018 - each time in a wave of pre-tournament optimism before England’s exit in the knock-outs.
However there is much more to the Lightning Seeds, originally a Broudie solo project which became a full band and produced some of the best pop songs of the Britpop era. Early single Pure hit the top 20 in 1989 and in 1992 The Life of Riley was a hit and became the theme to the BBC ’s Goal of the Month contest.
Alongside Broudie on guitar and vocals, the current line-up contains his son Riley Broudie, on rhythm guitar, Martyn Campbell on bass, Adele Emmas on keyboards, Jim Sharrock on drums and Tim Cunningham on the sax.
At their gig in Cheltenham this month they performed a greatest hits set opening with Change, Ready or Not, Sugar Coated Iceberg and Sense. After the Byrds cover You Showed Me came the singles Lucky You, Pure, the Life of Riley and, of course, Three Lions.
Hardwicke Circus
A five-piece from Carlisle, Hardwicke Circus was formed by brothers Jony and Tom Foster and have been praised for their dynamic live shows. The band is managed by Dave Robinson who founded Stiff Records in the 1970s.
The Hardwickes have supported Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Alabama 3, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes, the Boomtown Rats and the Blockheads. The band has released three albums. Songs include Let’s Make New Mistakes and Walking on Broken Glass. They have also performed some interesting covers including Small Faces’ Watcha Gonna Do About It, Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, the Doors’ Love Her Madly, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising and power-poppers The Jags' Back of My Hand.
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