Madness

Wolverhampton Civic Hall

Words Andy Richardson, Pictures Richard Franklin

Carl Smyth of Madness

The pillar box red double decker bus outside the Civic Hall was symbolic. Madness were in town and the assembled throng were being invited to join the original Nutty Boys on a nostalgic mystery tour.

Their festive forays along the length and breadth of the UK have become something of a tradition and fans dressed in pork pie hats and rolled up jeans were out in force.

Suggs and co’s recipe for fun is pretty straight forward: pop singalongs from yesteryear played note for note like the originals.

Little has changed about the band – apart from a thinning of members’ hair and expansion of their waists – and the party began with a barnstorming version of their classic One Step Beyond.

Madness fan in trilby hat

Predictably, greatest hits like Embarrassment, The Prince and My Girl were early highlights that got fans jumping up and down in the packed-out venue.

However, the band demonstrated their creative virtuosity with newer tunes from their thoroughly impressive album The Liberty of Norton Folgate.

Brass, strings, guitars, bass and drums melded together to dizzying effect and later highlights included Our House, It Must Be Love, House of Fun and Baggy Trousers.