Now in its second year, Uptown Festival is making its mark on the South London landscape. It’s pitched firmly at a family-friendly crowd and is probably the only day out where you can take a selfie with David Rodigan and a velociraptor in the same shot. Sure, meeting Bluey and grooving to Zutons is a draw, but the vast majority of the crowd have put on a fez and are here for one reason only. This is the site of the mighty Madness’ only London date this year, and the nutty boys’ fandom are ready to go one step beyond for their heroes.
Madness @ Uptown Festival 2024
Considering they’ve spent forty plus years on tour, it’s no surprise that Madness know how to make an entrance. They slip on unnoticed to the Thunderbirds theme, then with a wave, launch into One Step Beyond: heavy on the dub bass and saxophone solos, the classic passes far too quickly. Stripping the hits back and focusing on creating a smooth, rocksteady tempo then shovelling on the bass seems to be their new trademark, as inflatable beachballs fly and parents hug their sleeping toddlers as they sway to frontman Suggs’s rolling syllables on Embarrassment. The Prince is their love letter to the retro sound that inspired them, packed with rich reggae mic echoes and whimsical organ.
“Much to the surprise of us as everyone else, we’ve just had a number one album,” laughs the usually deadpan Graham “Suggs” McPherson. “It was like Taylor Swift, Drake: jog on!” Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie only came out eight months ago, and is the centrepiece of their set. Of course, most of the crowd are here to dance to the heavy heavy monster sound of classic Madness, but their latest release is far more complex than a casual listener would expect, and a lot more angry. C’est La Vie preserves the two tone tradition of monologued political commentary, dropping in a spooky little piano solo, and Hour Of Need fills the evening with eighties drama in as close as they get to a moment of misery put to song. They’re openly very political on numbers like Run For Your Life, but the tight carnival rhythm makes the casually emotional Round We Go’s throwaway despair palatable and danceable. The 63-year-old frontman lists the world’s woes nonchalantly, waving his hands for emphasis, like a lecturer intoning the benefits of ska, while below his feet a euphoric crowd basks in the setting sun.
Madness @ Uptown Festival 2024
By no means are Madness prophets of doom, their classic line-up solidified in 1978 continuing today with six of it’s core members from that era. “We started the band in his bedroom, we were a bit thinner then,” announces Suggs, gesturing to keyboard player Mike “Monsieur Barso” Barson, ”his mum Pat had to put up with such a racket…” On cue, Pat gingerly walks onstage, beaming with pride as the cinematic intro to My Girl swells and the frontman begins to unselfconsciously groove on the spot like someone’s dad at a Christmas party. He presents the narrative as a conversation, domesticity preserved in amber as a static moment amid the frantic sound. “What’s so funny about peace love and understanding?” the vocalist asks, facilitating a tiny piece of festival magic during Wings Of A Dove, a gentle energy pouring between us and the band, the melody chanted up to the sky.
Madness’ tactic of sandwiching the new songs between their back catalogue of mega-hits pays off and then some. The cracked Hall Of Mirrors melody to House Of Fun sends waves of dancing and prancing all the way back to the fairground rides, their joy infectious even as the outro slows like clockwork winding down. “It’s one of the biggest regrets of my life that I never got an education,” explains the frontman before Baggy Trousers veers delightfully like a wonky trolley speeding downhill, offering us a glimpse of how very good they must have been when they were underground considering how much voltage this song puts out years after its release. Our House feels warm and comfortable: of course, we love it for the nostalgia, but with so many holding up their children for a glimpse, this song feels like a legacy moment, a memory made to be passed on and on again. We’ve all sung It Must Be Love so many times but it feels genuine and sincere, a teddy bear tribute to the images our minds conjure when we think of our lovers. Graffiti cartoon hearts spin behind the band and there’s a beauty in the closely felt repetition of the chorus. Suggs leads a silent clap and we know our role. Closing out with Night Boat To Cairo sends us to the flowered exit gates in conga lines, the long stretches of the heath granting us a few moments more festival spirit before we return to reality.
While Madness will always be known for their hits which border on novelty songs, their continuing C’est La Vie summer tour proves that, after many years at the top, there’s more to the iconic band than we expect. Their newer songs, bookended by classics, are an intriguing combination of smart and angry, and they still have the energy to put on a quality show that’s bound to put Uptown Festival on the map ahead of its return next year.
Review of Madness at Uptown Festival 2024, Blackheath on 28th July 2024 by Kate Allvey. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.
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