Madness Concerts 1970s Madness Concerts 2010s
1980
January 3, 1980 UK TV "Top Of The Pops" performing "My Girl"
January 5, 1980 Appear on Tiswas and Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (The band playback their new single, My Girl, on Tiswas, the popular and anarchic kids’ ITV show. Meanwhile, on BBC1, they also appear in a performance that was taped earlier)
January 10, 1980 Bremen, GER (German TV "Musikladen" performing "One Step Beyond")
January 17, 1980 Pop Stop, GER (Madness appear on another German TV show, this time climbing in and out of windows while models look on, smoking cigars. It is as bizarre as it sounds)
January 20, 1980 Le Palace, Paris, FRA
January 21, 1980 TF Studios, Paris, FRA (French TV "Midi Premiere")
January 22, 1980 Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, BEL
January 23, 1980 Groot Auditorium, Antwerp, BEL
January 24, 1980 Salee de la Chappelle, Luik, BEL
January 25, 1980 Lux, Herenthout, BEL
January 26, 1980 Brielpoort, Deinze, BEL
January 27, 1980 Chorus, FRA (Recorded some days earlier, this French TV programme shows edited highlights of a live set, including One Step Beyond, Swan Lake, Night Boat to Cairo, Madness and Don’t Quote Me On That)
Setlist: One Step Beyond / Deceives The Eye / Mistakes / Believe Me / My Girl / Swan Lake / Razor Blade Alley / Land Of Hope & Glory / In The Rain / The Young & The Old / In The Middle Of The Night / Bed & Breakfast Man / Tarzan’s Nuts / The Prince / Rockin’ in Ab / Night Boat To Cairo / Madness. ENCORE: Don’t Quote Me On That.
January 28, 1980 Kantkino, Berlin, GER
January 29, 1980 Markethalle, Hamburg, GER
January 30, 1980 Pochette, Tilburg, NED (Madness make their Dutch debut at a packed and shoebox-sized Pochette. The show has a one-and-a-half hour delay, including a lengthy onstage sound check, because Mike’s organ isn’t working. But the band manage to conquer the audience and positive reviews appear in Dutch newspapers. The set is the same as in Paris on January 20, minus the reprise of Swan Lake and A Message To You Rudy)
January 31, 1980 Paard Van Troje, The Hague, NED
February 1, 1980 Effenaar, Eindhoven, NED
February 2, 1980 Paradiso, Amsterdam, NED (Mike meets his future wife Sandra after the gig)
February 3, 1980 Stokvishal, Arnhem, NED
February 9, 1980 Apollo, Manchester, ENG (Madness return for six domestic shows, supported by all-girl group The Mo-dettes, whose bass player Jane will marry Woody later in the year. The crowd is mainly teenagers – but Suggs insists in an NME interview afterwards that Madness aren’t just another teenybopper band)
February 16, 1980 Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG (A Saturday morning gig for under-16s, with Tickets costing £1. Afterwards they hold a junior press conference, at which all the reporters are kids)
February 21, 1980 Philadelphia, PA
February 22, 1980 Bayou Club, Washington DC
February 24, 1980 Paradise Club, Boston, MA (2 shows. The second show is aired on local radio)
February 25, 1980 Irving Plaza, New York City, NY (Madness’s arrival in the US coincides with The Specials’ last shows on their first Stateside tour. Playing the same cities with one week’s notice, Madness are believed to be responsible for fake ads suggesting that The Specials are giving 500 free tickets to those who can’t afford the $10 entry price for the finale at the Diplomat Ballroom on March 1, which has poor ticket sales. Madness themselves have no trouble selling out their own two-night residency)
February 27, 1980 Montreal, QC (The first of three shows in Canada is far from successful – the PA system doesn’t work and neither does Mike’s keyboard, and Chalky turns sick halfway through the show. A fed-up Mike expresses his anger in the dressing room by smashing plates of food)
February 28, 1980 Broadway, Toronto, ON (Tonight’s show is videotaped for broadcast on Canadian TV)
March 1, 1980 Punch & Judy Club, Detroit, MI
March 2, 1980 Park West, Chicago, IL
March 4, 1980 The Agora, Cleveland, OH
March 8, 1980 The Wreck of the Hesperas, Portland, OR (Madness perform at a pool bar for an indifferent audience. The headlining band, made up of metal-rednecks, aren’t impressed either and tell them to get out of this country with their black music)
March 9, 1980 Universal, Seattle, WA
March 10, 1980 The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
March 12, 1980 The Old Waldorf, San Francisco, CA (2 shows)
March 13, 1980 Bodega, San Jose, CA
March 14-16, 1980 Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood, CA (2 shows each night, supported by The Go-Go's)
March 24, 1980 Aplauso, SPA (For their first appearance on Spanish TV, Madness playback Night Boat to Cairo and One Step Beyond – here changed to Un Paso Adelenate especially)
March 26, 1980 Palmares des Chansons, FRA (The band playback One Step Beyond for French viewers, with Suggs sporting a natty pork pie hat)
March 27, 1980 Rendezvous de Dimanche, FRA (Madness again playback One Step Beyond, this time on the popular French talk show)
March 29, 1980 Le Pavillion Baltard, Paris, FRA (Madness headline the last day of the Europe 1 festival as part of a Stiff records package, along with Lew Lewis, Wreckless Eric and Lene Lovich. Believe Me is dedicated to members of The Selecter who are watching the show, and Rockin’ In Ab to Jerry Dammers. For Madness the band are joined by Lew Lewis on vocals)
April 3, 1980 UK TV "Top of the Pops" performing "Night Boat To Cairo"
April 5, 1980 UK TV "Tiswas" performing "Night Boat To Cairo"
April 15, 1980 Glen Ballroom, Llanelli, WAL (postponed until May 10th)
April 21, 1980 Winter Gardens, Margate, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s. Madness start a two-month tour of Britain and the continent. The UK leg was due to start on April 15, but the first five dates are cancelled as Woody’s dad is ill. The tour begins in Margate instead)
April 22, 1980 Tiffany’s, Great Yarmouth, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
April 23, 1980 Wirrina Stadium, Peterborough, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
April 24, 1980 Tiffany’s, Coventry, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
April 26, 1980 Royal Spa Pavilion, Bridlington, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
APRIL 27: St George's Hall, Bradford, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s. This show becomes Madness’s contribution to Dance Craze, using all tracks from The Prince onwards minus the first version of One Step Beyond and Crying Shame. Night Boat To Cairo, Swan Lake and One Step Beyond also appear on the accompanying soundtrack album)
Setlist: Night Boat to Cairo / Deceives The Eye / Mistakes / Believe Me / The Young and the Old / In the Rain / E.R.N.I.E. / My Girl / Baggy Trousers / Bed & Breakfast Man / On The Beat Pete / Land of hope & Glory / In The Middle of the Night / Embarrassment / The Prince / Swan Lake / Razor Blade Alley / One Step Beyond / ENCORE 1: Crying Shame / Madness / ENCORE 2: Night Boat To Cairo / One Step Beyond
April 28, 1980 Deeside Leisure Centre, Deeside, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
April 29, 1980 Tiffany’s, Blackpool, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
April 30, 1980 Mayfair, Sunderland, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 2, 1980 Assembly Rooms, Carlisle, ENG (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 3, 1980 Regal Suite, West Calder, SCOT (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 4, 1980 Fusion Ballroom, Aberdeen, SCOT (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 5, 1980 Magnum Centre, Irvine, SCOT (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 7, 1980 Whitla Hall, Belfast, NI (supported by The Go-Go’s)
May 8, 1980 Olympic Ballroom, Dublin, IRE (supported by The Go-Go’s. Independent radio station BCD broadcast the show live)
May 10, 1980 Glen Ballroom, Llanelli, WAL (supported by The Go-Go’s. Rescheduled from April 15th)
May 14, 1980 Theatre de l’Empire, Paris, FRA (French TV "Le Collaro Show", performing" Night Boat to Cairo")
May 19, 1980 Neue Welt, Berlin, GER (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 20, 1980 Musikhalle, Hamburg, GER (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 22, 1980 Phillipshalle, Dusseldorf, GER (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 23, 1980 Wartburg, Wiesbaden, GER (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 24, 1980 Circus Krone, Munich, GER (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes. Suggs and Mike miss the tour bus and are brought to the show by the concert promoter, who delivers them to an impatient crowd. Half way through the show a police officer comes on stage to ask if the owner of a brown Ford could go back to the car park to turn his lights off. The officer’s hat is thrown at the crowd before he goes the same way)
May 26, 1980 Eulachhalle, Winterthur, SUI (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 27, 1980 Palais Beaulieu, Lausanne, SUI (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 28, 1980 Palais D' Hiver, Lyon, FRA (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 29, 1980 Halle Leminees, Toulouse, FRA (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
May 30, 1980 Palms Des Sports, Bordeaux, FRA (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
June 1, 1980 Palais Des Grottes, Cambrai, FRA (2 shows, the first was a children’s matinee, supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
June 2, 1980 Rock Planet, NED (Sporting bizarre painted-on moustaches, Madness perform Night Boat to Cairo on the Dutch chart show)
June 3, 1980 ADM Werf, Amsterdam, NED (Madness perform at the Festival of Fools at a defunct shipyard. A man dangles from the lights 30ft above Woody and has to be removed)
June 5, 1980 Goeta Lejon, Stockholm, SWE (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
June 6, 1980 Chateau Neuf, Oslo, NOR (supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes)
June 9, 1980 Lewisham Odeon, London, ENG (Supported by Desmond Dekker & The Go-Go’s)
June 10, 1980 Lyceum, London, ENG (Supported by Desmond Dekker & The Go-Go’s)
June 11, 1980 Top Rank, Cardiff, WAL (Supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes & The Go-Go’s)
June 12, 1980 Bath Pavilion, Bath, ENG (Supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes & The Go-Go’s)
June 13, 1980 Town Hall, Torquay, ENG (Supported by Clive Langer & The Boxes & The Go-Go’s)
June 14, 1980 New Cornish Riviera, St Austell, ENG (Supported by The Go-Go’s)
JULY 1: Pulsar Festival, Paris, FRA (Madness join the line-up on the fourth day of the festival, along with Graham Parker and Joe Jackson. Now seasoned travellers, the band have come a long way since their first-ever tour, when one band member said he couldn’t go to Wales because he didn’t have a passport)
JULY 12: Montreux Festival, SUI (Madness perform at the Montreux Festival. Suggs and Bette Bright watch Elvis Costello & The Attractions. The band are asked to play at a concert for 2-Tone’s first anniversary on July 13 but it doesn’t happen because a licence is refused)
August 11-12, 1980 Theatre Royal, Nottingham, ENG (Supported by the Mo-dettes, the band interrupt recording to play two dates, filmed for ATV’s Rock Stage. Showcasing more tracks off their new album, both shows are attended by a large teenage crowd. They spend the second afternoon lip-synching so the TV crew can film the required close-ups. Sixteen tracks are used for the eventual edit, which is screened in 1981)
SETLIST: (first show): Night Boat to Cairo / E.R.N.I.E. / Mistakes / Disappear / Close Escape / Not Home Today / Crying Shame / Razor Blade Alley / Baggy Trousers / My Girl / Bed & Breakfast Man / Land of Hope and Glory / Embarrassment / On The Beat Pete / In the Middle of the Night / Swan Lake / The Prince / One Step Beyond / ENCORE: Madness Set (second show): Same as the first, plus Deceives The Eye after Madness
SEPTEMBER 18: UK TV "Top Of The Pops" performing "Baggy Trousers"
SEPTEMBER 27: Madness banned from Tiswas (With Suggs and Carl dressed up in clowns costumes as the Co-Co Twins, the band are barred from the popular Saturday morning kids’ show after a series of unfortunate incidents involving Suggs, Sally James and a water pistol and a kid biting Lee and his retaliation)
OCTOBER 2: UK TV "Top Of The Pops" performing "Baggy Trousers"
OCTOBER 3 & 4: Porterhouse, Retford, ENG (Madness prepare for the upcoming 24-date tour across the continent with two warm-up- shows. The second takes place on the eve of Lee’s 23rd birthday)
OCTOBER 8: Blackpool, ENG (The four-week Madness Monster Tour begins, with The Lambrettas as support)
OCTOBER 9: Palalido, Milan, ITY (The tour kicks off in Italy with five sell-out shows, supported by The Lambrettas. Before the show, some minor complications occur – Suggs’ suit is ripped to shreds by the dry-cleaner while Carl’s turns out to be one size too small. Chris, Lee and Mark watch The Lambrettas from backstage. For the Italian shows, One Step Beyond is performed in a bilingual version, as the band have recorded it in Spanish and Italian (Uno Paso Avanti). Mistakes goes out to those “who pay and don’t enjoy themselves”, and Take It Or Leave It “to all the punk rockers”. For the introduction of On The Beat Pete, Suggs uses the Italian phrase for ‘police’ (polizia) in his clumsy attempts to address the crowd in their own language. “This is a song called Shadow of Fear; it is about Londre, Londina”. Chris plays Batman’s Theme during the song intro of Night Boat to Cairo. Creating a future habit, Carl jumps offstage for the reprise of One Step Beyond to let the crowd shout “Beyooooond”. One fan, looking for a souvenir, grabs his shades)
Setlist: One Step Beyond / E.R.N.I.E. / Mistakes / Disappear / Bed & Breakfast Man / Close Escape / Overdone / Not Home Today / Razor Blade Alley / Embarrassment / Take It Or Leave It / On The Beat Pete / My Girl / Shadow of Fear / You Said / Swan Lake / In the Middle of the Night / Baggy Trousers / The Prince / Rockin’ in Ab / Madness ENCORE 1: Night Boat to Cairo ENCORE 2: One Step Beyond
October 10, 1980 Palasport, Turin, ITY
October 11, 1980 Palasport, Padova, ITY (As in Turin, the show is invaded by a group of anarchists who don’t believe in paying entry to hear live music. In an attempt to clear them out, the riot police fall victim to their own teargas grenades)
October 12, 1980 Palasport, Bologna, ITY
October 14, 1980 Teatro Tendastrisce, Rome, ITY
OCTOBER 15: Disco Ring TV show in Rome, playing One Step Beyond
October 18, 1980 Jaap Edenhal, Amsterdam, NED (Countdown Live Line-up third day: Raymond van het Groenwoud / Madness / The Specials. Purely because of the line-up, the third day of the Countdown Live festival is the only one to sell out. Belgium’s Number 1 rock singer Raymond van het Groenewoud goes down pretty well with an audience that have come here in the first place to see Madness and headliners The Specials. Bed & Breakfast Man is dedicated to those who’ve travelled all the way from Greater London. ‘This is a very important song, and it covers a lot of important subjects,’ Suggs introduces Embarrassment. The Dutch phrase for police (wrongly pronounced as politti) is used for On The Beat Pete. A long version of Night Boat to Cairo ends the set. ‘Going on a river now,’ Suggs traditionally says, and they were the previous night when the band reluctantly took part in a press conference on a canal trip boat. Woody and Mark watch The Specials’ set from the dressing room while the rest of Madness mingle with the audience. Highlights of the entire festival are broadcast on TV and radio six days later)
October 19, 1980 Brielpoort, Deinze, BEL
October 20, 1980 La Rotonde, Le Mans, FRA
October 21, 1980 Halle De Pretige, Orleans, FRA
October 22, 1980 Studio 44, Rouen, FRA
October 23, 1980 Top Club, FRA (The band play Baggy Trousers, One Step Beyond and Night Boat To Cairo, with Suggs pulling the strings and acting as puppet master to Carl’s marionette)
October 24, 1980 Maison De Scots, Reims, FRA
October 25, 1980 Le Pavillion Baltard, Paris, FRA (2 shows. Tonight’s first show is recorded by Radio 7, the second for Europe 1. A review in Rock & Folk dismisses both Madness and The Lambrettas as fakes, and predicts the end of 2-Tone, saying it’s lost its ‘flavour-of-the-month’ status)
October 26, 1980 Parc Expositions, Strasbourg, FRA
October 27, 1980 Exhibition Centre Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, GER
October 28, 1980 Volksbildungsheim, Frankfurt, GER
October 29, 1980 Kurhaus Friedensthal, Hanover, GER
October 30, 1980 Stadthalle, Cologne, GER
November 1, 1980 Scandinavium, Gothenburg, SWE
November 2, 1980 Olympen, Lund, SWE
November 3, 1980 Gota Lejon, Stockholm, SWE
November 4, 1980 Chateau Neuf, Oslo, NOR
November 7-8, 1980 Hope And Anchor, London, ENG (The band play two shows for an invite-only audience. Proceeds are donated to Blanket Coverage, a local organisation that benefits the homeless and elderly in winter)
November 27, 1980 UK TV "Top Of The Pops" performing Embarrassment
December 8, 1980 City Hall, Newcastle, ENG (The 12 Days Of Madness Tour begins in the north east of England. The UK leg of the ‘Madness Monster’ tour (dubbed ’12 Days of Christmas’) takes up 25 shows, including ten children’s matinees; only Glasgow and Brighton have to do with just the evening show. Madness are also proud to launch the first issue of the combined comic strip/fanzine The Nutty Boys which will also be enclosed as a free gift with the 12″ format of the Los Palmas single in January 1981. Magician Simon Drake opens the matinee shows before the band take the stage by jumping from a spring-board)
December 9, 1980 Odeon, Edinburgh, SCOT (2 shows)
December 10, 1980 Apollo, Glasgow, SCOT (2 shows)
December 11, 1980 Runaround filming, Southampton + Top of the Pops (Madness go to Hampshire to film a Christmas edition of the popular children’s programme Runaround, to be aired on Christmas Day. Dressed in the tartan jackets from the video, they also appear on Top Of The Pops with Embarrassment, with Bedders on double-bass and Carl on trumpet)
December 12, 1980 Manchester Apollo, Manchester, ENG (2 shows)
December 14, 1980 Brighton Centre, Brighton, ENG (2 shows)
December 15, 1980 Assembly Rooms, Derby, ENG (2 show)
December 16, 1980 Odeon, Birmingham, ENG (2 shows)
December 17, 1980 Victoria Hall, Hanley (2 shows)
December 20, 1980 Gaumont, Southampton, ENG (2 shows. Tonight, as on the rest of this tour, Lee recreates the flying act from the Baggy Trousers video that made him a star with youngsters)
December 21, 1980 De Montfort Hall, Leicester, ENG (2 shows. Although the increase of the teenage fanbase has alienated the neo-Nazis, they return and take advantage of the situation by handing out flyers outside the venue to potential junior recruits and selling copies of the right-extremist magazine, Bulldog. The same also happens at the London shows. Tonight, 30 skinheads cause a stage invasion during Embarrassment. Madness threaten to strike the show if the skinheads don’t back off. Much to the crowd’s delight, the trouble-makers are ejected from the venue)
DECEMBER 22: Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG (Supported by Tenpole Tudor. The tour ends with five shows in three days. The fourth show is recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio. Disappear is dedicated to a girl, Beverley, whom the band couldn’t visit when she was in hospital. Beverley is watching the show. Suggs dedicates On The Beat Pete to ‘any of you who are policemen’)
DECEMBER 23: Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG
DECEMBER 24: Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG (This fifth charity show is added at the last minute after Madness go back on their refusal to play on Christmas Eve because public transport companies stage festivity curfews. Ian Dury & The Blockheads are added to the support. The concert not only raises money for children’s homes, but toys are donated by members of the audience)
December 25, 1980 Christmas edition of Runaround screened, with band on ice.
December 27, 1980 NEC, Birmingham, ENG (Madness play on Elvis Costello’s Christmas Show with Squeeze, UB40, Rockpile and The Selecter. Carl misses the encore because he twists his ankle backstage)
December 31, 1980 The Venue, New Cross, ENG (Suggs and Chas perform as The Rubber Biscuits. Also on bill is Deaf School’s Bette Bright, Suggs’s future wife)
1983
August 20, 1983 John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia, PA (supporting The Police & Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, with R.E.M.)
