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Madness
Aggrolites
Jerry Dammers Wheels of Steel DJ

13/12/06 MEN Arena, Manchester

Reviewed by Steve Sync

Crew cut, Harrington, Drainpipe Jeans, and Loafers, Aahh those were the days, Madness, The Specials, The Beat, the funfair, candyfloss, toffee apples, and dog shit. A misspent youth in arcades during hot summers in a busy, thriving seaside town with a promenade full of tourists, scooters, motorbikes and atmosphere. Tonight was all about reminiscing those lost days albeit with 20,000 other Nutty Boys and Girls.

I travelled here tonight by Subway... that’s Roger Subway (Madness fan of old, and professional gig driver). We decided to park as close to the MEN Arena as possible after the last time we came here and parked a mile away and had to walk through pissing rain to the venue. ‘Ha ha, we’re not getting caught out again’ we said as we entered the multi storey car park beneath the arena, and ‘Oh shit’ we said as we eventually drove up to the fucking 10th storey for roof parking!

Once in the venue, it was great to see so many people making an effort by dressing up in retro gear like I mentioned above, and groups of fans in (Madness like) fancy dress (hats, shades, black suits, the walk, and fez’s) or maybe they always dress like that? The venue tonight was captured in a time warp, and everybody walking past us seemed to be really enjoying the whole retro feel. After people watching for a few minutes, we got a beer and entered the arena where The Aggrolites had just taken to the stage. This band are from Southern California, and play what they call 'Dirty Reggae', they sounded ok, and had the bustling mosh pit bouncing around to their upbeat Ska songs. Before long it became apparent that the keyboardist was the star of their show, as the songs were quite plain and standard, but were brought to life by the busy finger work and expressions of their larger than life organist. The band all dress in white suits painted with markings and slogans (been done before Clash, Manics et al). After a couple of songs their organist thanked Madness for giving them the support, and also added how he'd like to thank Jerry Dammers the man responsible for The Specials and the 2 Tone movement, this got an ovation. We thought this a little odd as this was a Madness gig, and it only became apparent after the Aggrolites had finished and we were re-fuelling on beer outside when we heard Gangsters being played in the arena. We went back in to see a bearded bloke wearing a tweed suit and cap playing a DJ set.......Fuck Me! I exclaimed, it's Jerry Dammers! Rog didn't believe me at first, but it certainly was the legend himself playing one of his old hits, you just wouldn't recognise him. Straight after Gangsters he played Mirror In The Bathroom by The Beat, but half way through, he was rudely told to leave the stage, as it was now time for Madness.

The backdrop video screen flashed into life generating a space aged star scape style Madness logo whilst the band took to the stage to the theme of 2001 A Space Odyssey...well this is the "To the Edge of the Universe and Beyond" tour. Suggs came on with an umbrella, wearing an Eric Morecambe style hat and long coat which as he greeted the audience, he hung up on one of those old fashioned hat and cloak stands. Chas Smash boomed 'Hey You! Don't Watch That, Watch This......' the immortal echoed vocal intro to ‘One Step Beyond’, and they were off! I was gob smacked initially at how great they sounded, and visually astounded by most of the audience up and dancing, for the whole set! The energy on stage and in the arena was amazing with all 7 original members of Madness (now with re-joined Chrisy Boy on guitar) dancing around the huge stage. Next up, ‘My Girl’ both songs taking me back all those years to their first album which never left my dad’s ‘Gramophone’ for months after its release. The classic ‘Embarrassment’ and the more recent ‘Lovestruck’ came next, and you find yourself getting deja vu thoughts and feelings with each track Madness play. Sugg’s umbrella was put to good use as they played ‘Sun And The Rain’ with thunder and lightning effects on stage and video backdrop which provided images from the past and also live footage of the band throughout the set. Prince Buster got a well-received reception as Suggs payed homage to him for being the reason they started a band in the first place, and being the subject of their first single ‘The Prince’ and one of his songs giving them their name. They went on to play one of Prince Buster’s songs ‘I Chase The Devil’ which you’d recognise as soon as you heard the chorus “I’m gonna send him to outer space, to find another race” sampled on The Prodigy’s ‘Out Of Space’. Classic after classic kept coming – ‘Shut Up’, ‘House Of Fun’, ‘Grey Day’, ‘Bed And Breakfast Man’, ‘Baggy Trousers’ (been played by myself pissed on many a pub piano through the years, most famously played with Crud stripping naked as an accompaniment which cleared a room), the gospel like ‘Wings Of A Dove’, followed by ‘Our House’ one of the bands biggest hits. At one point Lee Thompson (Sax) climbed onto the huge PA speakers to the side of the stage. He very carefully made his way right to the end of them before unleashing one of his powerful sax solo’s to all around. After making his way back over to the stage, he appeared to be a little shaky and was gesturing his bottle going and needed a drink before continuing. Madness encored with ‘It Must Be Love’ and then the foghorn intro to ‘Night Boat To Cairo’ boomed around the venue which sent everybody into a state of....well....Madness really! What a show! I had no idea how good it was going to be, or how much respect I have to give Madness for playing these shows in such a professional way. They are Legends, and I don’t know how many more years they’ll be touring for, but I definitely would make a point of seeing them again given the chance.

As me and Rog got in a packed lift to the roof of the car park, one middle aged fan asked if anybody had any Ralgex on them which wasn’t the hardest drug I’d been asked for at a gig, but by far the funniest! 45 minutes waiting on the roof, but luckily the car next to us had purchased the ‘CD of the Madness gig we just witnessed’ available from the many mass production booths after the gig! Fucking hell! Back in the day, we had to get a shitty recording on tape from ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ 6 months after the gig. Technology moves on but you can’t escape the past!

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