Madness/The Zutons/Hardwicke Circus – Kirkstall Abbey , Leeds 26th July 2014

In a Summer where a lot of outdoor events have had their spirits dampened by wet weather, it is great to have an evening when I can sit on the grass, cold drink in hand and get lost in some quality tuneage with my far better half.

Hardwicke Circus kick things off in great style with a set that was very much in the vein of tonight’s headliners Madness. With songs about boxer Tyson Fury and even one written with Suggs from our previously mentioned headliners I enjoy their set. Their recent album Fly The Flag, which came out in June was produced by Dave Robinson of Stiff Records fame and features such luminaries as Earl Slick (David Bowie) and Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey and well…. Loads) and if you want to catch them yourself, they will be playing festivals such as Weyfest, Peace and Solfest throughout the Summer.

As the unmistakably velvet voice of Nile Rogers from Chic comes through the P.A. , Liverpool band The Zutons take to  the stage. Now it would take balls for a band to have such a music legend provide their introduction to the stage (Rogers produced their most recent album, The Big Decider) but this is the new, and in many ways improved version of The Zutons that we see in 2024. This old Northern Irish headbanger was even throwing shapes as I danced myself through a set that was a mixture of the new record and the hits.  From the new record we hear Pauline, Creeping On The Dancefloor and it’s title track with drummer Sean Payne giving us beats that are simply impossible to ignore. Singer Dave McCabe has unfortunately forgotten his sunglasses, but hey, is it better that he has to squint than his adoring audience?

Bammo, the group’s tech gets a big cheer after McCabe introduces her to the audience, no surprise she gets such appreciation as she is a busy lady with all that goes on throughout a Zutons gig. That is the thing about this band, they have so many different facets and textures that they are never a dull listen. With saxophone and backing vocals brought courtesy of Abi Harding who doesn’t stop grooving all the way through the set, it really does add up to something pretty joyful. One of the things that The Zutons do have and which separates them from a lot of other bands is that they have in their arsenal  a track that simply everybody knows. Yes Ok, it was Amy Winehouse that had such a massive hit with Valerie, but it was The Zutons who wrote it and it is greeted like a long lost friend by this West Yorkshire crowd. The band finish with You Will, You Won’t and I look forward to seeing them again…as should we all.

Local band The Pigeon Detectives go down well and I have to say that I had to chuckle as their singer explained how our venue, Kirkstall Abbey is a great place to walk your dogs (or maybe even go dogging…. Whatever takes your fancy I suppose!) but it is Madness that I am excited to see.  Now I am a man whose formative years, in regards to music, fell in the 1980’s I am going to start this review of Camden Town’s Very own Nutty Boys with quite a bold statement. But I really do think that the 1980’s was probably the best ever decade there was for Pop Music. Now it is important that you realise that I am talking about pop music in particular, not the experimental nature of the 60’s or the grand rock or punk of the 70’s, I mean Pop music. Songs that were in the charts or you would try to catch on Top Of The Pops or The Chart Show or whatever. Yes, I am meaning the music that your Mum and Dad might know or your little cousin would sing with you. Bands like Duran Duran, Aha, Culture Club, Spandau Ballet even a bit of Wham…. Yes, they weren’t to my taste but I would find myself singing along when in the bath or wherever. There were some cracking tunes that were considered pop and it was only later in the 1980’s when it was Stock, Aitkin and Waterman Soap stars started having hits or faceless dance acts filled the charts that Pop Music became a dirty word.

With an intro video of the one and only Thunderbirds counting us down the set begins with the wonderful One Step Beyond sends this crowd, many of whom are wearing Fezs into the stratosphere! You’re An Embarrassment follows before we are treated to my personal favourite track of the night, an ode to Ska legend Prince Buster himself. The Price has me skanking, as they call it, like a madman. Lee Thompson (no relation ha ha) and his saxophone has the whole crowd jumping and when Suggs dedicates a track to the previously mentioned Dave Robinson of Stiff Records fame… well we are in a two-tone wonderland!!  The Madness back catalogue is just immense, and we get them all tonight, but it is some of the lesser known tracks like Wings Of A Dove or tracks from most recent record, C’est La Vie (an album which most recently became the band’s latest No. 1) that keep us begging for more. And the one thing about Madness which should never be forgotten, is that it is all done with a smile. They are almost like those timeless vaudeville acts that people would have gone to see at the world-famous City Varieties down the road in town. They are here to entertain and tonight they deliver it in bucketloads.

Most of the musicians leave the stage (Goodness, they used to be called The Magnificent Seven but there’s loads more on stage now) besides guitarist Chris  Foreman leads the crowd in an AC/DC Cover, yes!!! Highway To Hell no less!!! I was not expecting that! The band have the crowd in stiches telling us that “Suggs has got himself stuck in a portaloo” but just listen to the encore…. House Of Fun/ Baggy Trousers/Our House and then I have to take my missus’ hand as Madness break into It Must Be Love (my Karaoke song of choice) with members of the audience showing their unique Yorkshire for of appreciation of putting their fingers in their ears!! and they say goodbye with Night Boat To Cairo. The sun shone on us today and I think it was because even if it had been pouring down with rain, this wee rocker from Belfast would still have not stopped dancing if the big lad upstairs had chosen to drench us all.