Hello all!
This week the Grandslam brought forth more new Madness tunes.
At Silverstone the (Mcpherson/Barson) tune “Herbert” was loaded and fully fired out to the crowd. Meanwhile, at Haydock “Don’t Leave The Past Behind”, was heard. This is a Woodgate/Woodgate number.
Speaking of the Woodgates, remember to grab Woody’s new solo album “In Your Mind”, which is released this week, and tell us which tracks on it you like.
Woody spoke briefly with us at the Grandslam last week, and said he was most looking forward to walking in and seeing his first true solo album on sale in HMV, grinning with excited eyes of anticipation of that first time moment.
Despite his numerous musical successes up to this week, it clearly means something unique for him that the album will be seeing a release this Friday. Woody’s brother, Nick, tells us his that favourite tune on his brother’s album, is “We’re all going to Brighton”
Enjoy the read,
Jon 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
2015
GRANDSLAM
“Sporting theatres jumping with joy is the goal. Grandslam Madness – the greatest open air tour in the history of Rock & Roll…”
July
9 – Epsom Downs Racecourse
10 – Chepstow Racecourse
11 – Rhyll Outdoor Events Arena
September
6 – Gibraltar Festival
11 – Canterbury, Kent County Cricket Club
12 – Bristol, Gloucester County Cricket Club
13 – London, On Blackheath
18 – Leeds, Yorkshire County Cricket Club
19th Newbury Racecourse.
25 – Wolverhampton
26 – Chester-le-Street, Durham County Cricket Club

November 2015
November 20th – 23rd 2014 – Minehead – The House Of Fun Weekender Five
Early bird tickets on sale now
http://www.bigweekends.com/the-weekends/specialist-music-weekends/madness-house-of-fun-weekender.aspx#ico=OB_Madness

Near Jazz Experience
July
17th – NEAR JAZZ, LOUIS VAUSE, WENDY MAY DJ – Kino Theatre South Leonards at Sea, Sussex
http://kino-teatr.co.uk/index.php/event/near-jazz-experience-aftershave-louis-vause-and-wendy-may-dj/#.VXy5BpVFDIW

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
July
24th Llangollen Town Hall, Denbrighshire, Wales (Fringe Festival Event)
August
1st The Garage Highbury, London

Cathal Smyth
More events coming. Latitude Festival in Suffolk in July could be joining the “Other Voice” section of the festival.
Other dates in October and Dublin are future plans. No confirmed dates yet.

Deaf School
September
5th – Bingley Music Festival (Headlining Stage 2)
6th – Norwich – Waterfront

The Clang
www.porteliotfestival.com
August 1st – Port Eliot Festival **New**

The Silencerz
August 15th – Chados Arms, Colindale 8pm

BUY IT
The Grandslam Sporting Tour Programme
Once again Gavin Martin, a vetran of writing Madness Tour Programmes steps up to the podium in first place when it comes to delivering a quality item.
Like the tour itself the Grandslam Programme takes inspiration from the world of sport, and the easy to hold A5ish sized glossy booklet compiled by “Talking Music Revolutions” this year resembles the kind of programmes you get at Football stadiums. Decked in the green theme of the tour, the massive amounts of inside writing starts with an amusing piece by a fictional groundskeeper of the event you are attending, in tone like that of a slightly disgruntled parkie.
A four page chat with Suggs, begins in general, before venue specific questions are asked. Each of the six band members are graphically made superimposed as sporting heros in great artwork in with the booklet, over double page spreads, interviewing them with a plethora of match stats like statistic on life, and both music and sporting opinions. There are some amusing photoshop jobs too that we wont spoil but they are a must see. Clive Langer appears via the photo back drop shots of last years Mad Head tour. A number of parents proudly get their little wonders into a Mascot corner (Well done to Kev Crowther, Carol Escate, and Sheena Robert and families to name just three there.) While all the current solo albums, Chas, Woody, and forthcoming LTSO are all give a shout out advert. All this comes at the price of £5 that’s the kind of value Stirling Moss would approve of, or George Best raise a pint of Gladness to. It gets the MIS trophy of best conceptual design layout.

The Grandslam Tour T-Shirt
http://madness.sandbaghq.com/
The Grandslam is now well and truly underway, and you can get the latest official Madness T-shirt here…
http://madness.sandbaghq.com/home/charcoal-grandslam-t-shirt-online-exclusive.html
The charcoal grey T-shirt (available in small or large sizes) costs £20 and is exclusive to the Madshop. It’s also available in advance of the tour, which is nice

In Your Mind – Woody Woodgate solo album.
Pre-Order Now on Amazon. – *** Released July – 10th – This Friday! ***
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TZEMCMQ
OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SIGNED ALBUM INSTEAD http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Woody-Woodgate-In-Your-Mind-Ltd-Autographed-Edition-188454
Album released June 1st. 13 tracks with new band line up and vocalist Dan Shears.
www.woodywoodgate.co.uk
The first single from the album will be “In Your Mind”. A release date for this is to be confirmed. Shooting for the video will commence shortly.

Deaf School – Laundarette
http://deafschoolmusic.com/#/shop/4579903328/l-a-u-n-d-e-r-e-t-t-e-cd-the-new-album—buy-now/9766251
The brand new album, a Japanese release, contains 7 brand new studio tracks from the band, a track featuring Sam singing (and Lee Thompson in the band) unreleased from 1988 and 5 live tracks (recorded at the Brighton show 2014)

Lovestruck & Night Boat – Madness Beers – And Win Grandslam Tickets
https://youtu.be/XeqkFQNWA_A
Find out where to buy the beers here…
http://www.madness.co.uk/2014/10/30/madness-brewing-company/

SIGN OF THE TIMES
News and info from online and offline media sources.

What’s the Fancy Dress for The House Of Fun?
The House of Fun Weekenders page says….
It’s time to reveal this years fancy dress theme… trouble is, we can’t decide!
Give us your ideas, if we use it you’ll win a prize!
There has been a mass of replies. Just a few suggestions are…
Dominique Delaney “Why not sporting stars as Madness’ tour is Grandslam madness”
Graham Yates “Character from one of the band’s videos”
Carmel McKenna “Favourite childhood cartoon characters. I bag Mr Benn!”
Vicki Lee “Something beginning with M (a Big game of I Spy)”
Add your theme suggestions to the page. As soon as they announce the chosen theme we will let you know in the next bulletin.
https://www.facebook.com/houseoffunweekender

Woody talks to Suffolk Radio.
(Item sent in by Dan Button)
Stephen Foster BBC Radio Suffolk interviewed Woody on Tuesday. The show is 1700 to 1900, with the interview at about 18:20. He plays Michael Caine before the interview and a Woody song after. Thought you might be interested. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tvhd7#auto

Scootering Review In Your Mind By Woody Woodgate
There are two distinct kinds of solo projects that members of long established bands make. The first is “I don’t think the band is going in the right direction. This is what we should be doing.” (Often signalling the end of the mother group!) The other type being the “ok I’ve done that, now lets see what I’m actually capable of” type that exercises the musical muscles by trying something new.
Thankfully Dan Woody Woodgate has taken the second route and come up with something that is about as far away from the typical music he and his band mates produce, while keeping the distinct “Englishness” of their music. Falling between Pink Floyd and late Beatles on one side, and second summer of love records on the other.
Title track In Your Mind and the happy childhood days evoked in We’re all going to Brighton are the one that seem to catch the ear from the off.
Scootering. July 2015.

Town Ready For Night Of Madness
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/angus-the-mearns/town-ready-for-night-of-madness-in-montrose-1.888099
Excitement is building as ska legends Madness get ready to set sail on the Night Boat to Montrose.
Suggs and co are bringing their Grandslam Madness UK tour to the town for its only Scottish date.
Last year Montrose welcomed Status Quo and Les Kidger, director of LCC Live, said Sunday’s event will be even bigger, with more than 8,000 people at East Links.
“It’s our third year in Montrose and the town has quickly become one of our favourite venues,” he said.
“Once we explained to the guys what MoFest was all about they were really keen to do it.
Everyone is going to be in for an amazing night.”
Madness will perform new material alongside classic hits such as Night Boat to Cairo, House of Fun, My Girl, It Must be Love, One Step Beyond and Baggy Trousers.
Montrose Musical Festival secretary Anne Jenkins said: “We’re still pinching ourselves that we have Madness playing in Montrose.”
The band was not available on May 22 to headline MoFest but the committee could not turn down the offer of a standalone gig specially for this month.

Madness’ Cumbria link revealed
http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2015/07/02/madness-cumbria-link-revealed-ahead-of-carlisle-gig/
Drummer Dan “Woodie” Woodgate took time out from the band’s Grandslam 2015 summer tour of Britain to answer 10 quick questions with a Cumbrian flavour ahead of their only visit to the county.
1 – How has the Madness Grandslam tour been going so far?
Fantastic. Really good fun. The sun always shines on the righteous.

2 – Have you ever been to Cumbria other than to perform?
I used to rehearse with my band Fat near Cockermouth in the 90s.

3 – What would be your advice to any up-and-coming band from Cumbria?
Follow your heart, not what’s trending. “Whatever is now at the edges will become, in time, the centre.” – Brian Eno

4 – Have any of you ever heard of Jimmy Glass?
Only that he kept Carlisle up with a last-minute goal.

5 – Which is your favourite song to play live – and why?
Any one of my songs, because I get the royalties!

6 – What are your memories of the band’s previous appearance at Carlisle Racecourse in July 2013?
Brilliant!

7 – Do you enjoy a bet when you’re performing at the races?
Only when I win.

8 – How does playing open-air gigs at sports venues like Carlisle Racecourse this summer compare with indoor areas?
The Sun And The Rain. Did you see what I did there?

9 – You and Suggs are big Chelsea fans – so a new number 1 for Madness or Chelsea winning the Champions League again?
Winning the Champions League again.

10 – You played at Glastonbury 2009; the Olympics & Buckingham Palace 2012; and Carlisle Racecourse 2015. Where will you be in 2018?
Filling in a Q&A asking me – What are your memories of the band’s previous appearance at Carlisle Racecourse in July 2015? I’ll probably have the same answer. “Brilliant!”

LIVE AND INTENSIFIED
The Grand Slam At The Grand Prix
…And! there! they! goooooooo!, tearing down the road at breakneck speed on the road to Silverstone Grand Prix weekend,
in the super streamlined airflow crafted fuel injection …erm Campervan.
Ok so we were a bit more Scooby Doo gang than Formula one car, as we arrived at the race track to witness the next great Grandslam go, go, but we were as excited as an old school Murray Walker speech none the less. Slippery When Wet album playing on the van stereo in tribute to Mr. Foreman. We’ve every right to be excited for Silverstone, as although myself and Sharon have seen the Chelmsford Grandslam already, Mr. Foreman has said Madness have been in the pits and have changed some songs over quicker than a Lewis Hamilton car jack up between the last Grandslam dates and this current weeks gigs. So the next Madness album is making fast progress through the airing of new tunes. They’ve also been swapping in and out tracks from The Dangermen and the recent Invaders reunion set, to suit the venue. Our main team driver Nicky is doubly excited, as well as being a Madness fan she’s a true avid formula one fan into the bargain for today’s event.
Here’s how the grid lines up for Silverstone.
Set List.

Grandslam
Embarrassment
The Prince
NW5
My Girl
My Girl 2
Take It Or Leave It
The Sun and The Rain
Herbert
Dust Devil
Los Palmas 7
Believe Me
Lovestruck
Bed & Breakfast Man
Shut Up
It Mek
(Show Time)
One Step Beyond
House Of Fun
Wings Of A Dove
Baggy Trousers
Our House
It Must Be Love
—
Madness
Night Boat To Cairo

(At Haydock. Qualifying was different as. Mummy’s boy instead of Believe Me, and John Jones instead of It Mek. Bed and Breakfast man moved to just before Dust Devil. Another new song appeared at Haydock this was called “Don’t Leave The Past Behind”.)
We park up in pole position and we follow the stream of running people advancing at speed through the gates and that natural barrier hugger instinct kicks in and means we follow and match everyone’s speed as they corner, and we find ourselves on the starting position on the grand prix race track. The running had been for today’s pit walk visits and not a run for the front barrier of the Madness concert. It’s a thrill for me though, as someone has once attended this sporting event of motor racings biggest hit in the past, and also grew up with a scalextric folding down from my bedroom wall. Indeed two of the drivers I used to watch race. David Coulthard & the spirited figure of Eddie Jordan will appear onstage at the encore for tonight’s gig and rally the crowd into higher cheers for Madness to return and race the Night Boat to Cairo through it’s checkered flag, they are now more famous at TV coverage of the sport on the BBC. This event then is different than any other Grandslam date and it’s probably a little unique in the whole run of Madness gigs ever too for it’s setting. It’s both a privilege to play at such prestigious event in this high money world of car racing, a real talking point, and it has cross over sales benefits of a new sports fan audience, but its equally a big shadow to play under and has it has a few flat tyres of deflation too.
It’s sold not just to day trippers or Madness fans, but packaged with race goers who wish to extend their weekend. As such Live music plays a second fiddle to revving engines early on. At first when we arrive at the stage to witness The Lottery Winners, play indie pop and actively mock the role of being a support band in equal measures, not many are interested in witnessing this, the track, the bars, and mostly the pits all take the focus and it’s looking like the sea of red will be Ferrari caps and not Fez’s today. You cant buy a fez infact to even the numbers, merchandise deals and set up here is different it means the weekend race programme takes pole position and squeezes out the smaller teams efforts in this regard, the regulation crown stage is also a livery not allowed here, Silverstone have their own stage, so it’s been ruled out.
We are on the infield track the familiar red and white check of the tracks edge in view just across from the stage on the corner current known as “Bennett’s” he’s DJing sounds pumping out as the clouds part to sunshine. Chain Ska Brassica makes people dance more, with a front man that resembled our ska orchestra’s side man Fordie on speed if he had borrowed a Wombles hat. By the time Madness takes over the lead from them, the field is packed, inflatable saxophones are waving in support, T-shirts and Fezzes are present in enough abundance to sway the flag of support back to music, the Madness Tifosi has filled out the area. As grand prix drivers who are used to going at speed in cars are seen cycling the track instead as their first preparations for the sporting times ahead. Helicopter pass over head often and even a low flying equipment plan swoops to the landing area.
The Song Grandslam is a bold charge into the surroundings, but of course for recognisability they pull away more with “Embarrassment” really starting the revving of the crowd. Seven of so laps latter…
Most interesting point in the concert is the new signing, the emerging of new talent into the driving seat, it’s new track “Herbert” (not Johnny though) and it delights me. Of the 6 new tracks I’ve heard thus far for the new album, this one grabs me the most. I’ve been looping the low quality video version of it round and round like circling F1 cars ever since returning home. It’s very Dury-Esque, long in lyrics and they paint a comedic and criminal sounding tale a little like the world of Drip Fed Fred, and with some rudeness to it’s colour palette like House Of Fun winks at you with only more blatant here. There is a direct rhyme pairing from Billericay Dickie. One of the benefits of a slightly earlier outdoor concert timing is the crowd are pace setting themselves to a dance more rowdy later it’s a power saving strategy that means we can clearly hear this songs lyrics. The Chorus of…
“oh it’s the Wages of sin,
there is a big fat bloke trying to do me in.
I cant hide
and I cant run,
he’s chasing me round with an old shot gun”
…were sung along to by the last time they were sung in the song, which is pretty instant for a Madness tune.
“a rotten little Herbert,
my princess made of sherbet,
lavender, my cupcake co ca choo,
my chances getting silmmer,
my hopes were growing dimmer,
so I grabbed her and took her in the loo!”
It’s full of character and intrigue while musically the guitar has menace and a presence filled bass line. After the gig in chatting with Madness manager Hugh, (although it wasn’t directly stated confirmation), it does sound as if Clive Langer is already in the team chipping in ideas working on this album, I cant wait to hear Herbert get the full studio treatment.
Herbert – Live at Silverstone (MIS video by Sharon Staite)
https://youtu.be/Ss5eVxSHfa0
Patrick Clifford has joined us at the front of the gig, he seems to lap up “It Mek” as do many fans who favourite that Dangermen live rarity. We are stood with a dad and his young son, who depending on which song is played either wishes his dad would shut up and not sing directly at him, or joins in with him for the few track he knows himself and loves too. I initiate them into the “1 2 3” arm waving of Shut Up. And here that should be done for Sunday Podium placings. Suggs lost his lap counter a couple of times ending up announcing or about to announce the wrong song. Overall they didn’t lose much time over it.
I really like One Step Beyond sitting now at the start of Showtime, under the circumstances. I know Chris and the band are respectful of not doing “hey you” I really and the shout of showtime isn’t followed with the shout of the songs titled until Chris moves across the stage. But it’s like the song is now the second opening of the gig. As Showtime always felt like a “ramp up” idea. or and Act II beginning etc. (At Haydock they move bed and breakfast man to sit with Dust Devil I think that’s a wise move to keep more casual fans interested at the earlier point.
The sun down on Silverstone, the band had given it full pelt through the closing laps. Finishing with Eddie Jordan on tambourine. Nicky face aghast at the F1 Madness mash up she was witnessing.
As it’s Sharon’s birthday we hang around after the gig for collecting an arranged present pick up from a friend, and later we end up chatting with Woody, Bedders and Thommo, mostly in a formula 3000 level solo drive topic area, and bizarrely I’m sure I see Suggs showing David Coulthard how to play the spoons. This is the one mad meet where DC doesn’t stand for Dublin Castle.
In the dark leaving Silverstone we suddenly find we are locked in. The F1 drivers never have to wander around in the dark trying to find their vehicle do they? we were in danger of still being there for free practice day, the Grandslam lorries already packed and rolling onto the next gig, we found a safety car and followed it back to our Scooby machine after the mystery tour part was ended, and departed the famous race track. On the day when it probably saw more black and white not on chequered flags but on the hat’s and braces of some ska fans amongst it’s audience for once, going formula one step beyond.

Wings of a Seagull-Wo-oh Wo-oh ! French M.I.S Review of Brighton Hove Grandslam.
Hello M.I.S.!
Here I am, Judge Fredd from the French M.I.S. At Madness in Hove.
Translating my French review into English. I don’t use “Sh*t Reverso”, I use myself, who is shit translation too but less than Reverso or Google.
Anyway… When Madness play in Hove, in the crowd or above the crowd, seagulls are here. Normal. But when one of them shouts too much or too loud, I sometimes want to tell her : “Hey, la seagull, t’as pas envie de ferrmer ta gull ?” (the same sound than “gueule” in French which means “Shut Up”. It is a French pun). But, on the 28th of june, nothing negative. They could shout, Suggs was louder and when he sang “Wings of a Dove”, he replaced it with “Wings of a Seagull”. Well done !
As Genevieve Bale asked us, no seagull threw “something” on the pink suit of Chrissy Boy…For us, Madness in Hove, in a cricket stadium, on the seaside, close to Brighton, everything is so British with a lot of eccentricity.
We entered at 4.30. And decided to be in front of Lee’s space on stage. We were at the third rank and stayed until the end ; we have strong elbows to put “drunk meat” away from us. We are veterans from Madstock One so young drunk people won’t move me easily. Eh eh….
Two bands played before Madness and we had opposite feelings about them. The first on stage, “Backbeat Soundsystem” was very fresh, nice on stage. Playing distinctive tracks, putting a feeling of unity and a kind of soul…. their website : http://www.backbeatsoundsystem.com/.
It was the opposite with the second band, “By the Rivers”. Well-known, this band played too long tracks, undistinctive, lacking soul. They started to be better at the end of their set. It was a pity.
Big up ! to the roadies who were very efficient changing material very quickly. While they were doing their job, DJ Bennett was playing old classics and did some humour. And then he left.
And then, on the giant screens, “Goldfinger” started, announcing the maddies (and the comeback of the seagulls)! And suddenly, in the crowd, everyone was closer than before, but our old elbows worked eh eh.
The band came and started with a new track “Grandslam”. It was very courageous. This title was enhanced by the Brass Monkeys. Very cool and very strong. After it, the classic set of songs until the other new track : Mumbo Jumbo (in French, “charabia”). For sure, written by Lee, sung by Lee, with Suggs and…. Chris (yes!), this track is upbeat tempo. And Mike played a very nice line of organ on it.
Leah “Suggsy”Rix has a nice video of it : https://www.facebook.com/leah.s.rix/videos/1006709486028775/?pnref=story.
What’s it all about ? The title is clear and Lee announced it saying it’s about “talking bollocks”. And at the end of the track, Lee and Co used “Madness” words on it : “propaganda ministers”. Crystal.
To me, this track is the beginning of the “heart” of the concert : a great “Dust Devil” ; on “Los Palmas 7”, Suggs called for “waiter” 4 or 5 times, but he never came….”Shut Up” was played in communion with the crowd. Lee never stopped dancing, playing with the cameraman, the security men, the crowd, moving from right to left….
Then, the “clou du spectacle” : the old well played “Believe me” and the covers of Prince Buster. The first “Girl, why don’t You” started with the “as solid as a rock” baseline by the”as solid as a rock” Bedders playing a real nice live version. And the second, One Step Beyond, announced by Chris’s “showtimmmmmmmme”. Of course, sax line is here but Joe Auckland played a very nice trumpet solo on it. Very clever live version! The seagulls saw this for free, but some humans did it from roofs around too (the stadium really is within the town). Chris Foreman sung a cover, this time, it was Bon Jovi, sung by the crowd too. Saying that if there were complaints about some noise, Bon Jovi was the one to blame…..
The concert ended with old classics, with a special “wings of a Seagull” and a “It Must Be Love” which calmed down drunk bouncing people (nice way, isn’t it) and…… Night Boat. Classy version. A Hove Band, the Crocks came on stage, dressed in squeleton and played with Madness this encore. At the very end, family, pearly queens came dancing. The stage was full, very nice end for a concert!!!
After it, as old school fans, we stayed here a bit and asked security men for set lists. and Bingo !! Then, time to meet other fans : Emma, Leah and Gary.
Very “full of emotions” day ! Seagulls still remember it ! So do we !
Judge Fredd and Emily Blue Tit (French M.I.S)

Grandslam Madness At Haydock Races 3/7/15
I can’t even begin without offering effusive thanks to Chrissy Boy for ensuring that our daughter Tilly Rose, aged 2, had a wonderful introduction to live Madness without the need to get flustered or crushed. As ever, the people’s band…
Onto the gig itself, and many people have commented on racecourse gigs being dubious because you got drunken toffs with little Madness in their souls spoiling it for everyone. Well, I saw that a little at Aintree a few years back, but both Haydocks have been great for us, the perfect example of how these race/gig nights can be Win Win for all concerned. Of course, there were a few foolish incidents but they were sorted out quickly by the ‘high-vis’ boys and it’s fair to say that a lot of the boisterousness came from clear Madness fans. The point seems to me that if you don’t want rough and tumble, don’t stand front centre. We kept Tilly way back at first, then up front to the very far side, and everyone around us was delightful and friendly. Apart from the one sulky mare who scowled “Why would you bring your little girl?”, to whom my wife Lisa explained (in simple language) “because we wanted to…”.
In fact, it was a big crowd again, an electric atmosphere (especially when fork lightning appeared in the near distance, just as Suggs was singing “Strike me down with lightning” from ‘Lovestruck’ – thankfully, not an omen!
Of course, the key question for many of us was how would the band fare without one comfortable man, the one and only Cathal Smyth, especially my Lisa who has always loved Chas…even more so since he was so graciously kind and chatty to us in Camden back in 1999. My initial thoughts were that it would seem strange without that vibrant dancing, trumpeting figure, and his additional vocals. Let’s face it, to most, he owns ‘One Step Beyond’. Then I thought further and, being coldly impartial, I realised that, as far as technical construction goes, Chas could be omitted without much disruption because Lee could take on additional vocals and there is ample brass coverage. Indeed, the biggest miss was that reassuringly physical presence bobbing and weaving about the stage. Chas seems to represent so much of the heart and spirit of the band. To do without that, the remaining six would need to achieve the fabled Spinal Tap “going up to 11”. And they did! They rose to the occasion with energy and joy. This was lapped up by the crowd, who multiplied it a thousand fold, returned it, and bathed the band in love….who basked in it and returned it amplified even more!
The opener has long been ‘One Step Beyond’ of course but not so on this tour. I think the boys have shown sound judgement and due respect to Chas by changing it. No-one can perform the “Hey You!” intro like that man and that is even more so in its opening berth. Instead, we have a new track, the title track of the tour, ‘Grand Slam’. Risky? Not judging from the audience reaction. It’s actually a clever place to play something new, when all the audience, old or new, are excited by the first appearance of the band. It’s a pleasingly leisurely skank of a tune and my daughter Tilly danced with great pleasure as she balanced on my wife’s shoulders. I looked around and saw not one disappointed face. A palpable hit! It also disposed of the elephant in the room that all we anoraks feel when one of our Magnificent Seven is on sabbatical…and so it was then straight into ‘Embarrassment’ and ‘The Prince’ and it was quality Madness, as ever! We were standing way back at this point, letting people move forward ahead of us, which they did in a calm manner. Soon, though, we were part of the throng and the excitement levels were just as tangible around us as they were up front.
It’s wonderful that ‘NW5’ came next next and was treated as an old favourite (I suppose it has reached puberty by now, on reflection) and again, I was unaware of any unhappiness at what might be a lesser known track for some – perhaps this track has benefitted from its inclusion on ‘Total Madness’. Whatever, it is a bona fide golden great and was delivered with typical aplomb. ‘My Girl 2’ also won everyone over with its Motown-style swinging stomp.
The tried and tested were, as ever, top notch and, whilst it’s strange to lose the occasional single, it’s awesome to welcome back the likes of ‘Take it or Leave it’ and, what, really? ‘Mummy’s Boy’! Can’t remember ever having heard this live before and there was some precautionary double checking somewhat akin to a false start before the boys struck up, but it was a masterly performance- so much so that I wish I’d been able to hear the likes of other rare oldies earlier in the tour.
We had another new track – Don’t Leave The Past Behind – which I found to be an enjoyable mid-tempo piece. The album is already sounding extremely promising. All in all, regrettable though the absence of tracks from ‘Keep Moving’ and ‘Mad Not Mad’ might be, the whole package provides something for everyone. We all love the greatest hits package, the long-standing fans, the dedicated followers and the neutrals there for a day out. We all know them, we all dance, we all thrill to it. We had seven corkers from ‘One Step Beyond’, four from ‘Absolutely’, a track apiece from ‘Seven’, ‘Rise and Fall’ and ‘Wonderful’ (the latter now surely being old enough to warrant being classed as one of the vintage albums!) These were all executed with great gusto and gravitas, whilst remaining fun. The crowd loved them and asked for more. There was more, of course there was…four brilliant standalone singles in the shape of ‘Sun and the Rain’, ‘Wings of a Dove’, ‘House of Fun’ and ‘It Must be Love’. All also sending the fans into dancing expressions of rapture.
Hearteningly, the more recent material also hit home…’Dust Devil’ made it two choices from ‘Norton Folgate’ and we had one slice of ‘Oui Oui’…but I save special mention for the performance of the ‘John Jones’ cover from the ‘Dangermen’ album. A cover can and should be fun but not all of the crowd would have known the track and we all know that Chrissy Boy wasn’t particularly enamoured of the project…but what a blast it was!!! This was a standout for me, showing just how hard the Magnificent Six were working! Suggs dancing up and down, arms raised as he and Lee belted out the chorus. Each of the band as one in delivering a perfect homage to one of the genres that inspired them all those years ago. So great to see Bedders back with Woody as the perfect rhythm section, how marvellous to witness Barso writhe and wriggle around as he belts those keys, just like on the earliest promo vids, and, as always, there is the avuncular presence of Chrissy Boy, natty and hatty, strolling his corner, gurning to the audience, striking a pose. What a band! What a legend amongst legends!
The all killer no filler showtime section had, as usual, been opened by Chris the Karaoke, and he returned to Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer tonight, making everyone laugh, but also sing along, which is an amazing feat. Around me, everyone got it and took in the right spirit…and I think it also showed the right spirit that Chris then kicked off ‘One Step Beyond’ via a bit of banter with Suggs and the crowd that sidestepped the ‘Hey You’ legacy of Mr Smash, and surprised everybody so much that we were already dancing before we’d registered the different approach! It ensured that ‘One Step Beyond’ remained definitive Madness without dishonouring the aspects of it that is so resolutely Chas. Suggs and Lee are most effective in hollering the title following Chris’ intro and no one could have been disappointed. You might miss Chas, but no way could you find fault with what was present.
Tilly was flagging by now, but she’d beamed and skanked her way through her very first gig. Lisa took her back to the car, enabling me to push up to the front for the encore finale of those classics, ‘Madness’ and ‘Night Boat to Cairo’. The atmosphere was tremendous and, for me, the finest moment was seeing Chrissy Boy looking around at the band and out at the crowd and beaming like a Cheshire Cat. He looked blown away by the remarkable event and I felt so proud of my band, of their band…of OUR band. The mutual love and respect was intact and there can be no doubt that the fire still burns strongly.
It was a tremendous night…for us personally as a family, for us all as fans, for those at the races who looked upon the gig as a free bonus and for the band that keeps on giving.
“Do you expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr Bond, I expect you to dance!”
(Don’t leave the past behind https://youtu.be/YvWBGvyCeiA)
Ian ‘Big E’ Taylor

The Grandslam continues next week.
If you’re attending any of the gigs this Summer, and you’ve got more fan passion in you than just the length of a one finger typed tweet then send us in your reviews of Madness’ biggest ever outdoor tour. Your review doesn’t have to be massive. Just a sentence, a paragraph, or a set list, or a video link, or a full blown account of your Grandslam. It’s entirely up to you. Whatever your experience let all our readers know how your day was, what were the best bits, and make Madness proudly a band people truly talk about. We’ll publish your efforts in a future MIS newsletter, in our Live and Intensified regular section, and also on our website blog. There may even be a prize or two given out come September and tour end!
Be a sport and send us your post match analysis.
Send whatever you madly muster to Jonsmad@hotmail.com
Jonathan Young

MIS FEATURE – COMPETITION – JOIN THE LEE THOMPSON SKA ORCHESTRA IN WALES
Join The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra in Wales
“It’s an up close and personal, a once in a life time experience” Lee Thompson.
A Competition to join the band for a jolly fly on the wall band experience, for 2 people.
Prize Includes:
Meet the band and stay in their humble digs on the night of Friday July 24th (Free accommodation for 2 adults).
Dine, socialise and drink with the band, as their guest on that day.
Exclusive entry to the sound check, watch the band set up, see how everything operates.
Free entry to Llangollen Fringe, Town Hall gig 7pm July 24th featuring the bands well known Ska tunes and new tracks from the forthcoming “Bite the Bullet” second album.
£50 towards travelling expenses with the option of meeting up with the band in London for the train ride to Wrexham.
Take any photos you like & bring your Benevolence of sister Mary Ignatius CD or any other memorabilia along to be signed.
Winner will be contacted with meet, time location, and contact. Judges decision is final. No purchase necessary to enter. Entrants must be definitely able to attend, otherwise turn down the prize. Prize is non-transferable , no cash alternative.
Only one entry per household.
Closing Date midnight 15th July 2015
To enter go to the band’s official website
Leethompsonska.com
And submit your answer completing the sentence
“I want to run away with the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra because ….”
Simon Roberts

MIS FEATURE – VOTE FOR THE GRANDSLAM
If you enjoy any Grandslam gig. And think this tour is going well. Please vote for partner “LHG Liz Hobbs Group” in the live UK music business awards.
Personally, I’M enjoying the tour and liked that they named a horse race after the band. There have been some nice touches like that . Thanks for helping and voting.
Below is what the group themselves said along with details of which categories to vote them in.
“Dear Madness Fan,
We would really appreciate it if, when you have a free moment, you wouldn’t mind registering and voting for LHG (Liz Hobbs Group) in the ‘Live UK Music Business Awards’. We’re focusing particularly on GREATEST BRAND IMPACT and NATIONAL PROMOTER OF THE YEAR, but if there are any other categories you feel we deserve a nod for, by all means put us down.
Follow the link to register and vote!
http://www.livemusicawards.co.uk/categories/
Thanks in advance for your support.
LHG”

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 Number 583 – Sunday 4th July – Saturday 10th July 2010
Following on from last week, we were pleased to release yet another jam-packed issue for the subscriber base.
Jonathan Young brought us news of some fantastic Keep Moving and Rise & Fall Easter eggs. It turned out that these weren’t official Easter eggs as such, but if you followed Jonathan’s instructions and worked your way through both sleeve notes you’d be able to access a special MP3 he’d uploaded for your listening pleasure.
Following that it was over to the Retro Madness online store, where for this week they’d reduced the price of the 4x UK live limited edition double CD albums from 2006 and 2007. The price? A mere £9.99 each including p+p.
Next, Judge Fredd reported on a rare March of The Gherkins demo which had only recently surfaced, and subscriber Joe Behan brought details of Ska Patrol’s recent Madness evening.
Alongside all this we highlighted the range of new t-shirts available for sale in the online Madness store, brought you the latest news from Chris’ Cupboard, revealed details of the smallest ever performance of the Our House Musical, and to top that all off Paul Rodgers give us the latest Madness chart news.
Yes, Paul was back, and the exciting news was that in the Indie charts Rise and Fall was at 17, Ultimate Madness was at 19, and Keep Moving was at 20. Not bad at all!
10 years ago…
Issue Number 321 – Sunday 3rd July to Saturday 9th July 2005
We kicked-off this issue by announcing that following our card handing out work during the recent Forest Tour, the MIS readership had finally crossed the 600-mark.
Moving on to more serious stuff, and we were pleased to learn (courtesy of Chris Carter-Pegg) that;
“Following a massive 5 month long public inquiry into London Underground’s planning application to basically demolish the main heart of Camden Town and replace it with high tech office buildings, luxury flats and boutiques, common sense has finally prevailed with John Prescott’s decision to reject the entire scheme”.
This was incredible news for Madness and Camden fans alike, especially seeing as the vast majority of the buildings due to be demolished played key roles in Madness’ Camden heritage.
The buildings to be demolished included the Electric Ballroom, Holts Shoe Shop, the tube station itself, the shop formerly known as Rock On, part of Camden Market and the HSBC bank.
Next-up was Jonathan Young with a detailed and lengthy review of the first of three Dangermen gigs at the Scala. The full set list for the 28th June gig was as follows:
1 Danger man (High wire)
2 It Mek
3 Shame and Scandal
4 You Keep me hanging on
5 Girl (why don’t you answer to your name)
6 Skylarking
7 Taller
8 Lose a Good Thing
9 The Prince
10 Lola
11 So Much Trouble
12 The Israelites
13 John Jones
14 Chase The Devil
15 Night Boat To Cairo
16 Papa’s got a Brand new Pig Bag (with shouty Chas lyrics)
Not to be outdone with Jonathan’s write-up, we also featured reviews from subscribers Dan Fossard and Steve Saunders, who gave us their take on what sounded like a truly fantastic evening.
Moving on into the issue, and we presented details of the latest offers currently running on the Warrior Clothing web site. If you were after some new clothes, Warrior certainly had (and still have!) an impressive selection.
Elsewhere we had news of how you could import the new Dangerman album from France (if you weren’t willing to wait for the UK release), a transcription of the Dangermen album reviews from a number of online sources, details of rare items currently for sale on Ebay, and if that wasn’t enough, Chris Carter-Pegg gave us his list of the top 30 rare or unusual Madness items that you should always keep an eye out for.
15 years ago…
Issue Number 60 – Sunday 2nd July to Saturday 8th July 2000
We kicked off this week’s issue with news in from Emma Southerby who reported that Wizard Inn’s were planning to open a new pub in Upminster later in the year. Pretty much everything had been decided upon apart from one important thing, the name of the place!
With that in mind, Wizard Inn’s decided to organise a `Name the pub Campaign`. One Ian Dury fan by the name of Bob decided that as this was Ian’s old stomping ground, the pub should be named `The Ian Dury`, and why not?
Bob asked if we’d be kind enough to get in touch with Wizard Inn’s to put down our votes for `The Ian Dury`.
MIS Online and TMML subscriber, Emma Southerby was just one of the many people who placed their vote.
Next we passed things over to Madness Unsugged editor, Vince Carden who provided us with details of what might be appearing in the next Fatboy Slim single and what you may be reading in a future edition of his excellent fanzine.
Moving on, and it was on to Simsey, with his list of who won what at the recent Rhythmstock event. His list of winners was now 90% complete, but still needed a couple of gaps filling in. Were you able to help him out?
Back to the Madness Unsugged fanzine, and we were pleased to have been given permission to re-print one of the articles from a recent edition of the ‘zine. The article covered two tales from members of bands who had played support to Madness in the Eighties. We had Jo Bostock of the Jo Boxers, followed by Adele Winter of The Friday Club, the last signing to the Two Tone label.
Following this we moved over to some Glastonbury news in from Mr.G, who told us that Reef paid tribute to the one and only Ian Dury.
Frontman Gary Stringer told the audience: ‘When we said we were going to play this festival, Ian Dury was on the bill. We were really excited, you know.’ He paused, then shouted: ‘Come on! Let’s hear it for Ian Dury!’ and the band launched into Ian Dury And The Blockheads’ ‘Sex And Drugs And Rock and Roll’, to a rapturous response from the audience.
Rob Hazelby

TIME…
We’re almost done for this week, but before we go…
Look out for a fun video coming soon from Lee Thompson. It’s been shot by his son Kye, and will appear on the leethompsonska.com website, and on the band’s official social media outlets. It shows clips of the recent new album try out DC gig and a few words to camera by Lee of the forthcoming gigs. It features some most amusing bantering.
And finally, it’s over to Ian Taylor…
I’m currently selling my last few Mad Not Mad zines for thev Specialised charity.
They’re priced at a fiver each, and include a brand new copy of ace Brighton Ska band Too Many Croooks’ last album.
I have 3 copies of the 2013 issue (interview with Chrissy Boy, feature on Suggs in the press, feature on Our House the Musical, review of LTSA first album and a reappraisal of the Oui Oui album). I also have 5 issues from 2002 that is mainly focused on other Ska, Mod, Punk bands but has an extensive feature on the Keep Moving album. It’s all for a good cause.
In addition, my Madness special issue featuring all my previous stuff plus new interview with Darren Fordham will be arriving this summer…all proceeds to Specialised…
Contact me at bige70@blueyonder.co.uk
Until next week, take care,
Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams
(With thanks to Ian Taylor, Judge Fredd and Emily Blue Tit and the French MIS,
Dan Button, Sharon Staite)