Hello, and welcome to this landmark edition of the MIS. Why a landmark? Well, the first issue of the MIS went out on the evening of Sunday the 23rd of May 1999, with the idea that it would be a weekly digest of all the Madness news collected over the past seven days. It was also decided that if the flow of news slowed, the bulletins would appear less frequently, and if news really dried-up then the MIS would be knocked on the head.

Fifteen years on, and bar a few technical problems, which have seen issues go out late on the odd occasion we’ve not yet missed a week.

The success of the MIS is and has been down to many things – Simon who develops and maintains the MIS web site, ensuring it’s up-to-date, modern and a place people want to visit, Rob, who compiles the weekly lookbacks and formats the issue ready for publication, Paul Williams, who looks after the Specialized side of things, Looby who co-edited the MIS for a number of years, and finally Jonathan Young, who puts together the majority of the material you see in each issue. Without Jonathan’s efforts there simply wouldn’t be an MIS.

The continued success of the MIS is also down to the Madness fan community. Whether you’re a regular submitter of news, you send in the odd snippet now and then, you contribute to other online Madness sites, forums or communities or you simply subscribe, you’re doing your bit to ensure the MIS continues to run and goes from strength to strength.

Many thanks for your support over the past decade and a half. Here’s hoping we’ll be able to celebrate two decades of weekly publication in five years time.

Enjoy the read,

Jonathan Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams

SHOWTIMES

See below for all forthcoming Madness and Madness related gigs and events. If there’s something we’ve missed off or you feel should be added then please let us know.

Madness

June 2014

June 27th Jiwapop Festival, Montcada, Barcelona, Spain http://www.jiwapop.com/
June 28th, Night in the Park, Den Haagm Netherlands, http://www.nightatthepark.nl/
June 29th, Tivoli Utrecht, Netherlands http://tivoli.nl/

July 2014

July 3rd, Vienna Arena, Austria
July 31st – 3rd August, Reggae Sun Festival, Bordeaux, France

August 2014

August 2nd, Suikerrock, Belgium
August 12th Mallorca Rocks
August 13th Ibiza Rocks
August 18th, Kubana Festival, Krasnodar, Vesolovka

November 2014

November 21st – 24th 2014 – Minehead – Earlybird tickets can be ordered here: http://www.bigweekends.com/splash-pages/madness2014.aspx

December 2014

All for the M.A.D.H.E.A.D Tour

Thursday 4th, Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
Friday 5th, Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
*** New *** Saturday 6th, Brighton Centre, Brighton, Matinee
Saturday 6th, Brighton Centre, Brighton * SOLD OUT *
Monday 8th, Plymouth Pavillions, Plymouth
Tuesday 9th, Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth Thursday 11th, First Direct Arena, Leeds
Friday 12th, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Saturday 13th, LG Arena, The NEC, Birmingham
Monday 15th, Odyssey Arena, Belfast
Tuesday 16th, The O2 Dublin, Dublin
Thursday 18th, The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Friday 19th, Phones 4u Arena, Manchester
Saturday 20th, The O2 Arena, London

Links to purchase tickets for the above tour can be found at: http://madness.seetickets.com/tour/madness/?pre=premad&src=madnesspre

For tickets also see links via: www.madness.co.uk

Suggs Live

May 2014

27th May at Bury St Edmunds The Apex
29th May at Derry Millennium Forum
30th May at Belfast Ulster Hall

June 2014

1st June, The Garrick, London

The Magic Brothers

Magic Brother Friday Headline set:
November 14th.  The Big One 3.  Park Dean, Sandford Dorset.

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra

June 2014

June 1st, Wychwood Festival
June 29th Glastonbury Festival

July 2014

July 12th Lewisham’s People Day – Free!
July18th Brixton Jamm, London. Tickets from Skiddle.com

July 26th Wickerman Festival

August 2014

(Unconfirmed) August 16th, Newham, Under The Stars – Free!
August 31st, The Big Feastival, Alex James’ Farm, Cotswolds

October 2014

October 2nd, The Jazz Café, Camden Town

More festival dates to follow.

Ska Orchestra web site: www.ltso.mis-online.net

The Lee Thompson Ska Band

An appearance at the Boom town festival, Hampshire’s pop up city four day event begins on August 7th into the weekend.

Chinatown district is full of Ska and more bands this year, but we can confirm that this won’t be playing host to the Ska Orchestra

http://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/news/chinatown-district-line-up-released-199

The Silencerz (Featuring Lee Thompson)

May 2014

May 31st – FB Cup charity football event. Woodside park. South over £10 kids free.

June 2014

June 15th – Dublin Castle.  1.30pm  £7 on the door.

November 2014

16th November – Confirmed in the Sunday Lineup of bands at Specialized The Big One 3. In Dorset.

Lee will be doing a photo signing session too.

(Under a new name, The Daley fronted Lee Thompson band line up)

Near Jazz Experience

May 27th – NEAR JAZZ EXPERIENCE + Support + Guest DJ 
Indo 133 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1DT *Free* – 8.30 – 11pm

Deaf School

August

9th, The Islington, North London
10th, Rebellion Festival, Blackpool

For details of future gigs keep an eye on http://deafschoolmusic.com for more information.

Clangeratti

June 19th. Dublin Castle – Clive Langer’s new band featuring members of Deaf School.

BUY IT

If money’s currently burning a hole in your pocket then perhaps we can help with your dilemma.

Gorgeous George – Girl’s Night Out Single

Out on May 26th. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girls-Night-Out-Gorgeous-George/dp/B00K8I9PYG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399747064&sr=8-2&keywords=gorgeous+george+girls+night+out on Beer Belly Records.

LTSO, Bangarang, Featuring Dawn Penn & Sharon Shannon

Single release download date moved to May 26th. iTunes and Amazon links are now active.

itunes  http://tinyurl.com/p2bquak
Amazon http://tinyurl.com/pwg6du2
Check out the Bangarang-Anim-ad here… http://youtu.be/YCSM9eTe08k

Let’s Skank For England – Specialized World Cup Single.  Mr Scurf’s Koast Train Crew team up with Andy Keys Clark.

Released on Friday, the new unofficial England World Cup 2014 Skanthem “Let’s Skank For England” is now available to buy. The Specialized track has been composed to help raise money for The Teenage Cancer Trust … Special thanks to Paul Willo … available at iTunes, CDbaby … Please share & let’s get the word out there together!!

https://www.facebook.com/skaforengland

The Suggs Selection.

The new Suggs release we told you about recently, turn out to infact be predominantly a chosen selection of his favourite all time music.

It features one Madness track It must be love, and one solo track – So Tired. Alongside one self produced track The Farm’s – Stepping Stone.

The rest of the 60 track 3cd is his own personal music joys.

Signed copies are available from record store.

http://www.recordstore.co.uk/recordstore/Signed/The-Suggs-Selection-Signed/3C6C02BP000

Tracklisting

Disc 1

1. The Upsetters – Return of Django
2. The Jam – Beat Surrender
3. Freda Payne – Band Of Gold
4. Stevie Wonder – Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
5. The Miracles – Going To A Go-Go
6. John Lennon – Stand By Me
7. Faces – Stay With Me
8. The Kinks – Victoria
9. The Specials – Do Nothing
10. Desmond Dekker & The Aces – Israelites
11. Toots & The Maytals – 54 – 46 Was My Number
12. Harry J Allstars – Liquidator
13. The Skatalites – Guns of Navarone
14. Sly & The Family Stone – Family Affair
15. Betty Wright – Clean Up Woman
16. Ritchie Valens – La Bamba
17. Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free
18. The Temptations – Ball of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)
19. Junior Murvin – Police & Thieves
20. Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)

Disc 2

1. The Who – I Can’t Explain
2. Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)?
3. Dexys Midnight Runners – Geno
4. Booker T. & The MG’s – Green Onions
5. The Beat – Mirror in the Bathroom
6. The Selecter – The Selecter
7. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Watching The Detectives
8. Bobby Womack & Peace – Across 110th Street
9. James Brown – I Got You (I Feel Good)
10. Echo And The Bunnymen – The Killing Moon
11. Happy Mondays – Loose Fit
12. Bad Manners – Lip Up Fatty
13. Lou Reed – Vicious
14. Dandy Livingstone – Rudy, A Message to You
15. The Ethiopians – Train to Skaville
16. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – Egyptian Reggae
17. Max Romeo & The Upsetters – Chase The Devil
18. Georgie Fame and The Blue Frames – Yeh, Yeh
19. Ray Charles – What’d I Say
20. Etta James – At Last

Disc 3

1. Massive Attack – Teardrop
2. Primal Scream – Loaded
3. The Farm – Stepping Stone
4. Teardrop Explosions – Reward
5. The Cure – Close To Me
6. Deaf School – What A Way To End It All
7. Suggs – So Tired
8. Ian Dury & the Blockheads – Sweet Gene Vincent
9. Dave & Ansel Collins – Double Barrel
10. The Pioneers – Long Shot Kick De Bucket
11. John Holt – Help Me Make it Through the Night
12. Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Express Yourself
13. Jean Knight – Mr. Big Stuff
14. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – I’m Ready For Love
15. Womack & Womack – Teardrops
16. The Coasters – Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)
17. Ken Boothe – Everything I Own
18. Susan Cadogan – Hurt So Good
19. Jimmy Cliff – Many Rivers To Cross
20. Madness – It Must Be Love

BANGARANG – FREE DUB REMIX

On the eve of the release of the new single from The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra, Thommo would like you to have this free Dub-Mix of Bangarang. Bang-a-Dub.

The first mix of Bangarang was available on the celebrated debut album The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius. And now in 2014 a new single mix featuring Dawn Penn and Sharon Shannon is available to buy from Amazon & iTunes, it’s out tomorrow for a Bangarang Bank Holiday.

This third dub mix is exclusive and free for fans to download as a thank you to all who have been keenly waiting for the bands second single to be available to buy, since the triumphant performance on Jools Hollands hootenanny. This free unique dub mix is mixed by producer Mike Pelanconi who is set loose here to dub out Bangarang through his echo machines at the Ironworks in Brighton when the album was recorded, and Mike was also inspired by thinking of the sound of “Bangarang” to add banger-racing sounds to the track, and a race car movie intro sample too. All In keeping with his own Prince Fatty album’s style of production.

It’s a top dub extra cut for you all, made at the same time as the band made Hot Rub-A-Dub from the lucky people EP. So a nice new raritiy is now avialable to hear and share and download, Bangarang “no no no no no no no” with added Vroom.

Own all three Bangarang mixes. Click this download for free on this soundcloud page, own the album if you don’t already, and please download the new Dawn Penn single mix now.

Bangarang Single Mix Video.

Please Like and share. www.facebook.com/Leethompsonska

The band are playing Brixton, Camden, Glastonbury and a multitude of festivals starting now with Strummercamp, see you all there, and thanks from Thommo for all the support.

Jonathan Young.

SPECIALIZED UPDATES

Here’s Graham Yates with the latest batch of Specialized news…

If people are interested there’s a list of all artists/tracks here: http://www.specializedproject.co.uk/#!artists/c1qyc – it’s 70 tracks….yes 70!! Which absolutely blows the lid off the last two albums that were 42 and 47 tracks respectively I think – and shows just how much Specialized has grown in a very short space  of time!!

The album is still on track for a June release although subject to final confirmation and dates etc. – pre-orders should be possible in the next few weeks.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with Specialized online, you can find us at:

Twitter: @specializeduk1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/specialized3madnotcancer

Website: http://www.specializedproject.co.uk/

Oh and then of course there’s the Big One 3 http://www.specializedproject.co.uk/#!tour/c9a0 – from £80 per person for 3 nights packed full of Specialized artists including The Magic Brothers (Friday night) and Lee Thompson and The Silencerz (Sunday) – 14th-16th November – Parkdean, Sandford, Dorset.

Cheers

Graham

SIGN OF THE TIMES

A collection of articles that have caught our eye over the course of the past week or so.

Suggs on the Spoons at Walpole Bay
http://www.thanetgazette.co.uk/s-Madness-Walpole-Bay/story-21109146-detail/story.html
Suggs had been in Margate to perform his stage show My Life Story and joined some fellow musicians for an impromptu gig.

The music, which included Suggs on the spoons, went on until 3.30am.

The Suggs Selection

http://www.suggsmcpherson.co.uk/news/announcing-the-suggs-selection-the-new-album-put-together-by-the-man-himself/

I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN

This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby, goes back in time to report on what was going on in the world of Madness 5 years, 10 and 15 years ago this week.

5 years ago…

Issue 525 – Sunday 24th May to Saturday 30th May 2009

We got this issue off to a roaring start with the news that a number of you had emailed us saying that you’d bought tickets via Trinity Street, but had yet to receive the confirmation email telling you not to panic, and that you will get your tickets on time.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to provide any further information, and could only tell people not to get too worried. Something we realized was easier said than done.

Next, and we reported that on the Bank holiday Monday Suggs would be headlining a DJ set at the Reggae Roast, King’s Cross. If you were in the vicinity we urged you to get yourself down there.

Elsewhere we reported that the band were currently part of “The Tracks Of My Years” segment on the Ken Bruce Show on Radio 2, while on Tuesday the 26th May the band were due to appear on ITV’s This Morning, at 10.30am.

On Wednesday 27th Suggs was due to appear on the panel of Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, but we had reasons to believe that this may have been cancelled.

In chart news, the new album was currently sitting at number 5 in the midweek charts, and we were also told that a 2 CD deluxe version of the One Step Beyond album was due for release in October.

More chart news, and on Sunday the Dust Devil single reached 64 in the charts, number 1 in the indie chart, with a number 9 position in the physical format, based on HMV chart.

On to the articles, and these got underway with Jonathan Young recounting the recent album launch where only a lucky few were present. We reported on a terrible article from the Sun newspaper, which reported on Suggs, but at the time the events were meant to be taking place outside a venue, Suggs was already inside.

With The Liberty of Norton Folgate now available on CD and iTunes, Jonathan Young thought it was about time he took a look at all the various versions of the album that were now doing the rounds.

Naturally, with the album only recently seeing the light of day, much of the issue was taken up with transcripts of reviews taken from various newspaper and online sources. Thankfully, the majority of the write-ups were extremely positive, reflecting the views and opinions of the fans closely.

Elsewhere we featured coverage of the recent free HMV gig taken by Chris’ one and only Axecam, and included a transcript of an interview with Suggs that had recently featured on Ceefax. Remember that?

We brought this issue to a close with news in from Chris Carter-Pegg, who reported that on the Friday before the issue had gone to press Madness had retained a number 5 position in the music industry charts. Could they hope to keep that position come Sunday?

10 years ago…

Issue 263 – Sunday 23rd May to Saturday 29th May 2004

The day before this issue of the MIS went out was a truly memorable occasion. No, not because Madness (as The Dangermen) played their last in a short string of gigs at Camden’s Dublin Castle, but because after almost five years of co-editing, the MIS editors, Jonathan Young and Robert Hazelby finally met.

Many of our friends thought it amusing that after producing 260-odd issues of the weekly MIS our paths had never crossed. Once or twice we’d even been in the same building, but fate ensured that we were never able to meet face-to-face, until this weekend just gone.

With a weekend spent in a number of Camden’s watering holes many were expecting the MIS to go out on the Monday as mentioned in the previous issue. However, all the stops were pulled out, and the MIS went out in it’s usual Sunday night slot.

Naturally, with the band just completing a four day stint at The Dublin Castle this MIS was packed with detailed reviews of those week that shook the DC, with various members of the fanbase contributing to reviews of each night.

For most of us it was not only the first time we heard tracks that would soon be appearing on The Dangermen Sessions album, but the first time we’d been able to experience the atmosphere of those early days of the band, when they had a regular slot at the Dublin Castle.

15 years ago…

Issue 1 – Sunday 23rd May – Saturday 29th May 1999

Well, this was it. The first issue of the MIS went out on the evening of Sunday the 23rd of May 1999, with the idea that it would be a weekly digest of all the Madness news collected over the past seven days. It was also decided that if the flow of news slowed, the bulletins would appear less frequently.

Fifteen years on, and we’ve not missed an issue (although the odd technical ‘feature’ has meant that the odd bulletin was delayed in arriving).

Content for this issue included a brief heads-up on how to unsubscribe from the MIS if it wasn’t for you, and news that Virgin’s Tony Goodwin had been contacted in an effort to ascertain whether fans would be allowed to upload short 10 second clips of Madness tracks to their web sites. At that moment in time we were waiting for an answer, but promised the readers that we’d let them know as soon as we received a response.

News in from a certain Dan Woodgate, courtesy of Steve Bringe, was that the band now had two more names for songs they were working on. The tracks in question (these are the spellings and names we were given at the time) were: ‘Got no Money’, by Thompson, Woodgate and Nick Woodgate (Woody’s brother), and ‘Alysian’, by Thompson, Woodgate.

Moving on, and we reported on the recent release of issue 14 of the fantastic ‘Nut Inc’ fanzine (remember that? Fantastic fanzine). Issue 14 had masses of features on the Madstock IV weekend, as well as detailing the plans of the band. Start Wright, the editor, told us at the time, that this was the largest issue to date.

With the recent US tour already a fading memory for many, it was nice to see one Alan Redpath not only making his photos available online for everyone else to see, but was asking others to send in theirs for uploading, or for you to add captions and details to the pictures already there.

We finished off this first ever issue of the MIS, with news from a certain Mark Bedford, informing us that arrangements for the August ’20 Years of Madness’ gig at The Hackney Empire were now well underway. 10 songs were planned to be aired, with a lot of other Madness related bits and pieces going on during the show. The date of the gig was pencilled-in as Sunday the 22nd of August, with a possible gig on the 21st also a possibility.

Rob Hazelby

TWEETS OF A DOVE & THAT FACEBOOK

Recent nutty posting from Twitter, Facebook and other online sources.

Madness Official (@MadnessNews)

May 16

“Our UK tour is now on general sale here: http://www.gigsandtours.com/go/madness  #Madhead pic.twitter.com/A5GO4ofu18”

May 23

“The Brighton matinee show is now on sale here: http://www.gigsandtours.com/go/madnesspre”

May 21

“.@MadnessNews in Brighton is sold out so to accommodate, a Matinee show has been added! http://www.seetickets.com/tour/madness”

May 20

“Belfast & Dublin #Madhead tour pre-sale now on: http://www.ticketmaster.ie/promo/hs8nqu”

Mark Bedford (@I_be_MarkB)

May 21

“In the studio today with @The_NJE …. I shall be using the Marxophone. pic.twitter.com/OAUbAgvXys”

May 22

“DAY 2 recording with @The_NJE . ‘Still Life’, by Percasso. pic.twitter.com/xF4t0LrR7F”

Suggs (@SuggsMcPherson)

May 20

“pic.twitter.com/BdxKvatUZL”

May 20

“Me and Deano knocking it plain dead in Milton Keynes. #missus pic.twitter.com/exzCNixBhT”

May 19

“My life story wagon drawing toward final staging post. Flagons of ale and pickled eggs. Very last of one man, celebrations Garrick June 1st.”

NJE (@The_NJE)

May 18

“Look carefully and you may spot two of the NJE in the Jazz Club on the Fast Show special on BBC2 Friday night at 10.”

May 20

“The NJE return to the Indo Bar on Tuesday 27th May. More details soon…”

TLTSO (@leethompsonska)

May 18

“Need a soundtrack to your Summer? Look no further…. pic.twitter.com/qjqJ4JPrz7”

May 19

“Link for tickets to our Brixton show http://www.skiddle.com/search/keyword.php?keyword=lee+thompson+ska+orchestra … pic.twitter.com/mmLLYLEgl5”

May 21

“Headline gig this Sunday @Strummercamp9 will you be there?”

Darren Fordham (@fordie_tltso)

May 20

“One year ago? Can’t be? pic.twitter.com/bk7wRhRAFM”

May 24

“Today…Photo shoot for @Specializeduk1 @SpecializedCal followed by rehearsals for @Strummercamp9 #leethompsonska”

Magic Bros (@magicbrothers3)

May24

Retweeted by Magic Brothers

“Croydon Radio ‏@CroydonRadio

Our latest newsletter is at http://bit.ly/CRWeekender  and features @PRESTIGEWIGS @becky_cj @magicbrothers3 @quidcycle @benrivermusic”

Facebook Madness official

24 May

“Suggs Mcpherson has been busy, he’s got a 3 disc compilation coming out soon, order a signed copy here: http://bit.ly/1nlNKbI

And look out for the paper back version of ‘Suggs That Close’ available to order here:http://amzn.to/1r3CwKq”

LIVE INTENSIFIED

The Nutty Bar is Born

The Soft Opening With Rhoda Dakar, 4th April 2014

It’s the Monday before the big day when legendary fan Harry Wandsworth will see his dreams of opening a Madness bar in Spain become a reality. I’ve joined a small crew of helpers from Madness’s team with a plan to drive out to Marbella for the launch. We were due to collect an order of Gladness from the Growler Brewery but due to them undergoing restructuring and the business then being sold to new owners, they were unable to honour the order.  So we are in a mad rush ringing around the local Tesco stores in London trying to track down stock of the beer and then driving to collect what they had left, buying up the entire stock on shelves an getting a few odd looks!  (we ended up with around 50 bottles instead of the 500 Harry was expecting,  he was happy enough  to just  have stock to show in the press photos though.) Gladness is now happily back in stock at the brewery, and I bet it helped Tesco’s ordering policy to have people ringing up and asking about it!

With our beer stash sorted we set off on the long drive. It took us two days to drive to Marbella from Surrey, we had to drive as we were bringing the framed tour posters that had been specially signed for Harry by Madness, plus the infamous saxophone and kilt (complete with the crown jewels) that Lee had used for the Olympic closing ceremony. These items are far too unique to be trusted in the hands of any airline!

On the Friday morning we awoke in the beautiful villa that Harry had arranged for us to stay at and made our way to the Nutty Bar. It is set in a little pedestrianized area with a few other bars and eating places. It is located in what is known as the second line which is the set just off the marina and within a minutes walk of the beautiful sandy beach.

Harry has done a great job with the décor of the actual bar, the pictures I’d seen on the facebook page were impressive but it was far better in real life. The floor is the two tone black and white checks that we all know and love, there are two bars either side of the room with a few two tone and Madness logos tastefully placed around, the ladies loo sports a Rude girl on the door and the men’s have a Rude boy. There are black tables with white stools dotted about and a sofa area, outside there is a terrace area with comfortable sofa’s, arm chairs and low level tables. The bar originally had an Egyptian theme with hieroglyphics carved around the door frames, Harry decided to keep this feature as it fitted so well with the Night Boat to Cairo track.  The highlight of the décor though was the 8ft square picture of El Thommo wearing the aforementioned kilt playing his sax whilst flying through the air from the Olympic closing ceremony … (the ‘crown jewels’ had been airbrushed out though as Harry hadn’t realised that this was part of the outfit and assumed they were a dislodged mic pack or something!)  There was a hive of activity from the decorators doing last minute alterations, the bar staff setting up the bar, unpacking glasses and all the other jobs to ensure everything was in place for the soft opening to be hosted that evening. Next door to the bar is the Nutty Café, this is decorated on a similar theme to the bar but with black seats and white tables

Rhoda Dakar arrived from the airport for her stint as the star turn of the evening, we joined Rhoda and Harry for lunch (Harry had to eat and run to get back to the 101 things that needed to be completed before that evening) we had a very leisurely lunch with Rhoda, it’s the first time I have met her properly and she is one lovely lady! We retired to our respected hotel and villa to rest up for the evenings grand soft opening.  Rhoda ended up doing two DJ sets for the very enthusiastic crowd that turned up for the soft opening, there were a healthy amount of people coming and going throughout the evening all enjoying the great sets that Rhoda was playing, she and Harry got up and had a bit of a skank with the others on the dance floor.   When the tiredness of the last couple of days driving and beer hunting finally caught up with us, we left at about 1am.  Rhoda then ended up doing another set on the Saturday night as she’d gone down so well.

Official Opening with Lee Thompson – 12th April

Lee had arrived the evening before after having driven from his holiday home further up the coast line, we picked him and Si Birdsall up from their hotel to take them to the Nutty Bar for the sound check for that evening’s performance. Unfortunately the other act that was due to perform that night, who will be the bar’s resident ska DJ,  was unable to come over from England as he was currently lying in a hospital bed having undergone surgery! Harry hastily got together a makeshift band from local musicians and including the drummer of the Evil Turkeys, Che Suggs Jones (who I think had just come over for the opening).

Luckily they were able to borrow a drum kit too! They decided to do tracks from The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius LP and ended up doing one of the longest sound checks I’ve ever witnessed (over 3 hours of rehearsals) the musicians were all sounding quite together by the time we all went back to our hotels to get ourselves ready for the evenings launch, the guests were already arriving by the time we left.

On our return the bar was buzzing with excited anticipation of the evening’s entertainment, it was quite a sight to see everyone’s heads turn and part the way as they realised that Lee had arrived.  He went into ‘showbiz’ mode and happily posed for photo’s and sign autographs for all.  Lee officially opened the bar with a little speech about wishing Harry well and all the best success … he’d been rehearsing the speech in the car on the way to the bar from notes that he’d written out – bless him.)

Lee and the band then played to a very appreciative audience, in between tracks Lee told a handful of jokes and quips about Madness and Harry, unfortunately some of the jokes went a bit flat as I don’t think the Spanish audience could understand the British sense of humour!  Lee had to cut the performance short though as the air conditioning developed a leak so had to be turned off which made it absolutely sweltering for us all in the bar, let alone Lee and the band up on stage under the lights performing. Just like those early Madness gigs when Harry first followed the band around, now a new legend and story has been added to the band history. “If you’re beginning to feel the heat!”  Have a Gladness in the Nutty Bar!

After a cool down and a change of clothes Lee ended up then doing a DJ set into the early morning before we dragged him away as we all had an early start in the morning and the long drive home.  Congratulations Harry and long may your Marbella Bar, be The Nutty one.

Midnight Rider – Nutty Bar Soundcheck
http://youtu.be/1VzKvicjitY

More Nutty Bar Soundchecking
http://youtu.be/RCFQfAqkVRg

Opening Night Montage…
http://youtu.be/7_K_5pgi6cg

Sharon Staite.

TIME…

As well as Madness’ evening gig at Brighton this December being a sell-out, sales for the London O2 concert are also selling extremely well. Already standing tickets are no longer available via see tickets or the Madness website links.

We recommend you check Axis via the venue’s own website at http://www.theo2.co.uk/ as that’s where we got our tickets. We’ll see you there for an MIS meet up outside the bars, and a merry Christmas MISCast (something we haven’t done since 2008/9).

Until next week, take care,

Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams

(With thanks to Sharon Staite, Graham Yates and David Gilabert)