Madness played the Fox Theater in Oakland and the show reminded me how many great hits they had during their ska/pop/new wave reign in the late 70s early 80s. They opened with "One Step Beyond" complete with the lead singer Suggs and the original intro. Madness played Oakland as a ten piece band but most of their music through the years was with seven members. Madness is from Camden Town, North London and started in 1976. They still have six of the seven original members which is super rare these days with bands that have been around this long. Madness consists of: Chris Foreman, Mike Barson, Lee Thompson, Graham "Suggs" McPherson, Dan Woodgate and Mark Bedford.
Madness were more popular than I remember, having had 16 singles in the top ten in the UK. Including, "One Step Beyond", "Baggy Trousers" and "It Must Be Love", one UK number-one single "House of Fun" and two number ones in Ireland, "House of Fun" and "Wings of a Dove". Their biggest hit in the USA was "Our House" reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2000, the band received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for Outstanding Song Collection. This show at the Fox in Oakland opened with a band called Save Ferris (pictured below). Save ferris is a seasoned pop/ska (ish) band with a female lead singer from Southern California. They were okay. The friends I was with, knew of this band and liked them probably more than me. However they were definitley a good pairing to open for Madness.
A funny thing happened through the show...Lead singer Suggs kept announcing that they'd be appearing at Amoeba Music in Berkeley but he pronouced it 'Barclay' as they do in the UK. I heard the silence as the crowd probably didn't know he was meaning 'Berkeley' not as he pronounced it, 'Barclay'. After about five or six of his announcements that they'd be at Amoeba 'in Barclay' someone must have corrected him and he finally pronouced it the American way, and I heard a buzz of recognition go through the audience. Made me giggle. All in all it was a good show, with lotsa musical fun, the Madness way!
A few affiliate links for some Madness music and merch: Total Madness - https://amzn.to/4cMEvMt Best of Madness - https://amzn.to/3y7DvDy Madness Tee - https://amzn.to/3Lz2a70
© Cheryl Alterman Photography 2024
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