“It’s been quite a palaver getting to America,” Suggs intoned five songs into the Madness show in the Hammerstein Ballroom at New York’s Manhattan Center, the final stop on this long-awaited U.S. tour. “We tried three times during the lockdown and kept getting blown out. But we’re here now finally, yes!”

The crowd’s roaring cheers summed up an evening brimming with joy, fulfillment and mutual gratitude between artists and audience. Though for myself personally, this was the least amount of palaver I’d ever undertaken to get myself to Madness. I took an Amtrak route from my town in North Carolina all the way to Penn Station, not even changing trains, deposited just a block and a half from the venue and my hotel. Fancy that: me getting to a Madness gig without need for an aeroplane! Manhattan Center sits in the shadow of the Empire State Building on West 34th Street, and that morning I did the tourist thing up the 86th floor observatory to gaze down and reflect. A moment to take time for my pleasure and laugh with love, feeling literally and figuratively on top of the world. “Here now finally,” indeed.

Honestly, it feels like a redundant and unnecessary exercise to write this “review,” because all I can do is gush and rave. I loved it, the night was perfect, it was amazing. No real criticism here. But this is my duty as the appointed Stateside Madness scribe, so let’s bang out a few heavily biased fanboy thoughts and observations for the record.

This New York show was vastly more satisfying than my last Madness gig. At the 2019 Kenwood House concert in London, I was so disappointed by terrible sound and unruly fans that drowned out the live orchestra assembled for the 40th anniversary spectacular. I resolved never to attend another huge outdoor Madness fest debased with rain, mud and drunken yobbos – only indoor shows or House of Fun type events from here on out. The Manhattan Center atmosphere was just what the doctor ordered. A crowd packed with engaged and loving fans who weren’t primarily interested in getting shitfaced. (Sadly there were some nasty kerfuffles for security to grapple with, drawing Suggs’ concern during “The Prince.”) Crystal clear sound mixing and a simple lighting setup. This was the first time I’ve seen Madness with no video screens or Vegas-style MADNESS marquee letters flashing behind them, keeping all visual attention squarely on the musicians. The boys were certainly up for it, smiling and basking in the warm reception they’ve found stateside. 

Whether justifiably or not, Suggs has garnered a reputation for being the weak link in the Madness stage show. The rest of the band are rock-solid professionals, whereas Suggsy can be a bit unpredictable, shall we say. But he was in fine form in New York, perhaps a result of choosing discretion with preshow drinks. Suggs was witty and charming in his banter, and generally acquitted himself well on vocal duties. But bless his heart, the fella just can’t make it through “My Girl” anymore without messing up one verse or another, and he always starts too early on “House of Fun”! An exasperated Chrissy Boy bounded over to give Suggs hand signals on when to restart with “Good morning Miss,” almost like a practiced comedy routine. Those stumbles aside, Suggs did great and we love him.

In fairness, his instrument-playing bandmates flubbed up a couple of times too. Something went badly sideways with the intro to “NW5,” sounding like Mike Barson accidentally bashed out the opening chords of “My Girl” instead. Oops. Lee wanted to have a quick tea break after that. Percussionist Mez Clough ably filled in on drums in place of Woody, who opted to sit out the U.S. tour. I thought Mez sounded perhaps a tad off in “Wings of a Dove,” but otherwise remained remarkably faithful to Mr. Woodgate’s rhythmic stylings.

In terms of the setlist, ideally I could have done with a couple more from the excellent Theatre of the Absurd presents C’est La Vie, in place of some of the Dangermen covers. But all in all, I think they selelcted the three new songs we most needed to hear: “C’est La Vie,” “If I Go Mad” and “Run for Your Life.” As much as I adore the album tracks “Round We Go,” “Hour of Need” and “Beginners 101,” recordings from the UK have demonstrated Suggs’s difficulty in capturing his delicate and nuanced studio vocals on stage, so it’s just as well those were left out. I’d hoped “Run for Your Life” would be more of a raging singalong, though I can understand if it was too weird for the New York audience to metabolize. I loved hearing it, though. If I could have put one more TOTAPCLV wish on the setlist, it would have been “What on Earth Is It (You Take Me For)?” How fun it might have been to witness that concentrated burst of Thommo energy, but I’m content without it.

My favorite songs of the night? Whoa, it’s hard to choose. I’ll say “The Sun and the Rain,” “If I Go Mad” and my beloved “Night Boat to Cairo.” Also have to admit that I deeply enjoyed “Girl (Why Don’t You),” which I’d never heard them play in person before. And a special commendation to C.J. Foreman for a most spectacular Showtime intermission! Two whole verses of “Highway to Hell,” my goodness I feel blessed. For those about to skank, we salute you, Chris.

I must likewise applaud the band’s impeccable taste in intro and outro music. They walked onstage to the strains of John Williams’s “Star Wars: Main Title” and left us with Eric Idle’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” If there are two other cultural pillars I love as much as Madness, they are Star Wars and Monty Python. Just hearing the Star Wars theme puts me in a heightened state of emotion. And then after the encores, my buddies Poly, John and Cazza started a dance circle to the Life of Brian anthem that I joined in on. The circle rapidly expanded across the floor Hammerstein Ballroom floor, somewhere near 100 of us with arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, kicking and whistling in delirium, spitting gleefully in the face of mortality and dread. What a moment of communal delight and unity among strangers that I’ll never forget.

And the record must reflect that this concert took place a few short hours after a historic jury verdict was handed down at a Lower Manhattan courthouse a mere three miles south of us. The outstanding opening act Fishbone did not mince words in their assessment of the newly convicted felon. Suggs offered his own sly thoughts a couple of times during the show. “I’m in no position to talk about bent politicians, right? Where I come from, we’ve had more than our fair share of them bollocks. But I’m not saying, y’know, New York did a bit of something good today.” This came before launching into “Mr Apples,” where Lee substituted “Mr Donald” in the first chorus and Suggs ad libbed “What’s it all about? Power. Corruption. Perversion.” As a preamble to his Showtime cabaret, Chris declared with Superman vigor, “It’s time for justice and the American way!” and led us in three cheers of hip hip hooray. What a big, beautiful night to party in New York. Yuge!

So, politics and any other petty divisiveness notwithstanding, let me address one last thing, possibly the most important reason for this U.S. tour: bringing Madness fans together. The band and their management have to be thrilled with the enthusiastic turnout at these shows. Even if regular visits to our shores aren’t economically and  logistically feasible, at least they know they’re still beloved here. And the value of fans meeting fans can’t be understated. At our pre-show Stateside Madness meetup, organized by my esteemed comrade Poly Collins, we drew a nice crowd of friendly folks mixing and mingling. I had the pleasure of handing out free SSM buttons and making new friends like Glenn, Jay, Benjamin and so many others whose names I don’t remember. I got to see my friends John, Jeff, Lori, Derek, and of course the legendary Jon Young, who graciously gave me a C’est La Vie CD autographed by Lee Thompson in honor of our co-authored album review. And after the show I had the great pleasure of finally meeting Domingo “Sunday” Muñoz, our brother-in-arms who runs MIS Mexico. He even brought me a custom-made 2 Tone bandana to match the stylish one Jon was sporting that evening.

One of our goals when we organized Stateside Madness in 2020 was to create a U.S. fan community similar to the tight-knit, “where everybody knows your name” Madness fanbase in the UK. We’ve never gotten near that point so far. Certainly, meeting one another in person is the best way to make an online community come alive with personalities who share bonds and enjoy interaction. With this U.S. tour, I think we’re finally seeing sparks of that. I’m hoping “C’est La Vie in America” won’t prove to be the end of our purpose at Stateside Madness, but rather the end of the beginning.

Concert photos credit: Brooklyn Vegan