Into Live Music Review: Madness
Concert: Madness
Venue: Falkirk Kelpies
Dates: 5 June 2026
Madness and I go back a long way. The first album I ever bought with my own pocket money was One Step Beyond which happened to be forty-seven years ago (gulp). I’ve seen the Nutty Boys countless times over the years and it was also the first proper band my youngest son saw live (he loved them). So, when they announced a show a mere nine miles from my home, it really was a no-brainer.
The gig was part of the band’s promotional tour for their recent forty-five track compilation album Hit Parade. The crowd was treated to twenty bangers over ninety minutes and such is the extent of the Madness back catalogue that there wasn’t room for ten of their top forty hits. That sums up the strength of the North London stalwarts, known for their singles and videos but really, there is so much more. Thirteen studio albums and some insightful lyrical content that focuses on real life social issues including mixed race relationships (Embarrassment), homelessness (One Better Day), criminality (Shut Up) and the deviousness of a seemingly upstanding member of the community (Mr Apples), to name but a few.
Opening with the title track of that debut album was always on the cards though the music had been altered somewhat, a more rocksteady feel, a deliberate and less frenetic version which was a change and I think all the better for it. Drinking in the scene, the crowd were skanking from the off, no way they’d keep that pace up (or so I thought) but they absolutely did. It was also great to see two and three generations of families having the best of times, all singing and dancing along to the songs.
Edinburgh born keyboard player Mike Barson introduced the track he penned in 1979, My Girl, a top three hit in the charts the following year and at a time when the band were on the Two Tone tour with The Selecter and The Specials. Throughout the show, singer Suggs was the circus ringmaster, cajoling and winding up the crowd in equal measure but all done tongue-in-cheek. Ably supported by chief joker and prankster Lee Thompson, the two were front and centre of the on-stage shenanigans. Holding it all together was Mark Bedford on bass and Daniel Woodgate on drums. You’ll do well to think of a better rhythm section over the past fifty or so years, the two just quietly went about laying down the beat which allowed Thompson on sax and Barson on keyboards to add the glitz. A three-strong brass section and percussionist added some heft when it was needed.
Debut single and cover of Prince Buster’s The Prince was fantastic, a bluebeat vibe and a saxophone solo that floated through the night air while the calypso tones of Wings Of A Dove demonstrated dexterity and inventiveness. Suggs nearly took matters one step beyond the pale by suggesting Scotland would be knocked out in the first round of the World Cup. Reminding the crowd of his name (Graham McPherson) and his Scottish lineage did little to quell the hordes who launched into an impromptu “No Scotland no party“. The subsequent Baggy Trousers was lively to say the least!
The ad-libbing continued throughout the gig, a call and response on Georgie Fame’s Yeh Yeh a frequent feature and the theme of love and its various forms helped set the scene for both Lovestruck and It Must Be Love, the latter closed the main set. Before the band came back on for the encore, a lone piper came on stage and provided a medley of Scottish songs which was a great touch.
The two song encore of Madness and Night Boat To Cairo was nothing short of sensational and a fitting way to end what was an absolutely great gig.
Review by John Welsh
@welshjb
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photos c/o J.WELSH/S.KELLY