“Twelve years! You wouldn’t believe what it took to get here,” Madness frontman Suggs McPherson told the crowd at Hammerstein Ballroom on Thursday, who were very glad the London band were finally playing NYC again. They were supposed to play in 2020 but the pandemic obviously delayed that, and Suggs also noted that in some ways it was for the best, as during those four years, Madness released their terrific thirteenth album Theatre of the Absurd Presents C’est la Vie (which went to #1 in the UK), not to mention a band memoir and accompanying three-part documentary. It all worked out and everyone onstage and off had a very good time.
“I can’t believe we’re all still alive,” Suggs joked later in the show, but it is pretty remarkable that basically the same lineup that gave us their 1979 debut One Step Beyond… was on stage here 45 years later, including keyboardist Mike Barson, bassist Mark Bedford, guitarist Chris Foreman, and saxophonist/percussionist Lee Thompson, who seemed to be the keeper of good vibes (and at one point poured shots and passed them to the crowd). Drummer Danny Woodgate, who is still in the band, was not on this tour. They were augmented by a horn section and percussionist, and I thought they sounded fantastic.
Even with songs from the new album, which the crowd around me seemed to know, it was a hitfest on Thursday night. And Madness have a lot of hits. “Our House” may have been their only US Top 40 single, but they were one of the biggest bands in England in the 1980s and most of their biggest songs (which got MTV and alt-rock radio play here) were performed at Hammerstein, much to the delight of everyone in the room, who were dancing all night.
The band walked out to a mash up of The Thunderbirds/Star Wars theme and Suggs greeted the cheering crowd with “Hey You!,” as they launched into “One Step Beyond;” the night flew from there. The first part of their set was heavy on early classics, including “Embarrassment,” “My Girl,” “The Sun and the Rain,” “Shut Up,” “Bed and Breakfast Man” and “Wings of a Dove.”
The band took a break after that, but Chris Foreman stayed onstage to perform a karaoke cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” which was random but fun. The band then came back to play four of their biggest songs: “House of Fun,” “Baggy Trousers,” “Our House” and “It Must Be Love.” Their encore was introduced by a bagpipe player, and then they came back for two more songs — “Madness” and “Night Boat to Cairo” — and then said goodbye to the crowd while “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian played over the soundsystem. The crowd was in such a good sing-a-long mood, they started singing along to that too, and started dancing in a circle together. A surreal close to a wonderful night.
Midway through the show, Suggs’ referenced The Life of Brian‘s joke about “What have the Romans ever given us?” in reference to ska legend Prince Buster’s influence on Madness. Suggs noted Buster gave them their name, inspired their debut single “The Prince,” and that their second single was a Prince Buster cover. (“Madness” is another cover.) It was all an intro to them doing a Prince Buster tribute, offering up another cover, “Girl Why Don’t You?”
I was near the front for the first half of the show, which was great, but when I moved to the back after “Bed and Breakfast Man” I realized that was where the real party was. People had room to dance and were using it, and even the front lobby where the merch table was had loads of people shaking a leg. Watching the crowd lose it to “House of Fun” may have been the highlight of the night.
People came dressed up. There were of course lots of Fred Perry shirts and porkpie hats on display, but there was also a large group of fans who showed up in red Madness fezes. With the Rangers in the NHL playoffs playing next door at Madison Square Garden, and fans in hockey jerseys everywhere, the corner of 8th Ave and 34th St was an interesting fashion show to say the least.
The night was opened by Fishbone who I thought were also terrific despite “opening act sound.” There has been some inter-band drama lately, but this version of the lineup, featuring OG members singer/saxophonist Angelo Moore and keyboardist singer Chris Dowd, were all joy in their short set. Sometimes you get a metal Fishbone set, but they knew who they were opening for and their short set featured some of their most-loved songs, including “Party at Ground Zero,” “Ma and Pa,” “Cholly,” “Everyday Sunshine” and a cover of the Commodores’ “Brick House.”
Angelo is still a dynamo frontman, jumping around, doing cartwheels, playing the theremin like a scratch DJ, and generally pumping up the crowd. He also addressed the Trump verdict, which had just come in a couple hours earlier, leading the crowd in a chant of “GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY” before dedicating “Ugly” to to him. (Madness also referenced the verdict later in the night.) When they were leaving the stage after their set, Angelo went back and grabbed the mic and told the crowd how excited he was to open for a band that were so influential to him, and he could be seen dancing and singing along to Madness’ set all night from the side balcony.
Our photographer P Squared missed Fishbone’s set, but his photos of Madness, along with full fan-shot video of their set, and the Hammerstein setlist, are below.
SETLIST: Madness @ Hammerstein Ballroom 5/30/2024
One Step Beyond
Embarrassment
The Prince
NW5
My Girl
Taller Than You Are (Lord Tanamo cover)
The Sun and the Rain
C’est la vie
Shut Up
Girl Why Don’t You? (Prince Buster cover)
If I Go Mad
Bed and Breakfast Man
Run for Your Life
Chase the Devil (Max Romeo cover)
Wings of a Dove
Mr. Apples
Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
House of Fun
Baggy Trousers
Our House
It Must Be Love
Encore:
Madness
Night Boat to Cairo
SETLIST: Fishbone @ Hammestein Ballroom (5/30/2024)
Party at Ground Zero
Ugly
Ma and Pa
I Don’t Care
Cubicle
Subliminal Fascism
Cholly
Everyday Sunshine
Brick House / Fishbone (Is Red Hot)