Madness' Suggs talks ahead of Birmingham show

The band who enjoyed 15 Top 10 singles returned with a new album, Can't Touch Us Now, which shot them straight back into the Top Five. Their first album since 2012, the record featured the hit single Mr Apples and has been followed by an arena tour, which reaches Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena tomorrow.

"Over the last five years we've had Buckingham Palace, the closing of the 2012 Olympics and it's been great," says frontman Suggs. "It's been a privilege for a band that has been around for as long as we have to be offered so many things."

They've come a long way since Suggs signed up to sing for them.

"I was about 17, I think. I went to The Roxy club in Covent Garden when I was 16 and I remember there was a band with members who were 14-years-old and I thought 'if these can do it then why can't I?' By the time I was 18 I was on Top Of The Pops.

Everything was happening in the 70s. We were coming out of a period of austerity and things were pretty dark and then punk came along. It taught us that you didn't need to be a musical virtuoso to start a band – and we certainly were not."

Things have changed alarmingly since those days. "It's a lot more difficult for bands now. When we were starting out in Camden Town there were probably 20 Irish pubs that had function rooms where you could gig. But now you have to pay to gig in a London pub."

Suggs keeps in touch with what's happening and spends plenty of time at gigs.

"I don't mind a bit of grime and was listening to The Weeknd and Tinie Tempah. Then on the other end of the spectrum, I'm getting into jazz and things I despised as a kid." Madness remain as fashionable as ever, though these days it's bowler hats and tweed rather than 2 Tone styles featuring snappy clean lines and polished boots. The fans have been dedicated followers of fashion and a Madness gig isn't a million miles away from a fashion parade.

"Yeah! You see these little grandchildren that have been dressed up by the grandads in all that gear. Sometimes it's a bit worrying because you see these old guys who were obviously around in 1979 and haven't danced like that for 30 years. You start to worry that there might be a few collapses in the front row."

And the gigs themselves have changed a bit too. But it's the music, rather than the cool threads, that keep fans coming back for more. "It has something infectious and when we started playing that kind of music, we knew we were onto something different. I get a lot of kids coming up to me saying stuff like 'oh my God, on the weekend I was so embarrassed because I was at a wedding and I've never seen my dad dance before. Night Boat To Cairo came on and my dad and uncles all jumped up dancing like they were 18 again!' Young kids seem to really identify with the stupidity. We made those videos to have a good time; we were dressing up and messing around just like kids.

"Certainly in the early days of the band, a lot of venues got smashed up," Suggs recalls. "A lot of it was youthful enthusiasm. Sometimes you'd get two gangs and they decided to choose a Madness concert to sort out their differences. That music creates a lot of energy, which normally goes the right way but on the horrible odd occasion it can go the wrong way."

And what can we expect tomorrow? "The usual unbridled joy. Hang on to your hats and make sure your shoes are done up tightly because you're going to lose something, if not only your marbles."

By Andy Richardson