Madness @ The BIC Bournemouth

Saw Madness @ The BIC, i've followed them for 30 years, here is the write up from the Bmth Echo.

Madness, Bournemouth International Centre
12:39pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009



Madness should probably expect a hefty bill from the BIC for floor repairs after constant bombardment by the feet of a massive pogoing throng.

From beginning to end, the ska-reggae legends, on their 30th anniversary tour, threw out a healthy dose of hits, forcing such energetic vertical movement that the floor should have been in pieces by the night end.

The fact most were likely wearing Doc Martens is enough to give their insurance company the willies.

The demographic was surprising. Most were predictably aged 30-50, but there was a vast number of young teens, hinting that many a parent has been influential. Hell, my three-year-old throws shapes to House of Fun so by the time Suggs and company rock around for their 50th anniversary tour in 2029, he'll be smashing the floor to bits with the rest of them.

The middle of the set list was new material and cuts that Madness aficionados know well, but bookending this was a collection of favourites which would set the toes tapping of every true child of the 80s.

One Step Beyond, Embarrassment, The Prince, My Girl, and The Sun and the Rain fired us up, while the band's “showtime” – House of Fun, Wings of a Dove, Baggy Trousers, Our House and It Must Be Love – bring the BIC to an absolute frenzy.

The encore, We Are London, Madness and Night Boat to Cairo ensured these British classics will play over and over in the heads of the departing thousands for the next week or so.

Which, thankfully, was just the steering-wheel-tapping distraction I needed while stuck at the top of a painfully slow-moving BIC car park.