The Cruel World onslaught on the Bay Area keeps right on rolling along, with so many acts playing the big ’80s music festival in Pasadena also performing dates up north.
Following a better-than-decent show from The Go-Go’s on Tuesday and a triumphant outing from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on Wednesday, fellow Cruel World act Madness took the stage on Thursday night at the Fox Theater in Oakland to deliver a quick, fun set of ska and pop.
Although the venue was far from being at full capacity, those in attendance certainly enjoyed seeing this former MTV favorite, which still features most of its signature lineup — including vocalist Graham “Suggs” McPherson, saxophonist Lee Thompson, guitarist Chris Foreman, keyboardist Mike Barson, drummer Dan Woodgate and bassist Mark Bedford.
Taking the stage right before 9 p.m., the man called “Suggs” grabbed the microphone and uttered those oh-so-familiar lines from the “One Step Beyond.”
“Hey You! Don’t watch that — watch this,” McPherson instructed in the same kind of echo-chamber delivery found on the original 1979 recording. “This is the heavy, heavy monster sound — the nuttiest sound around. So if you’ve come in off the street and you’re beginning to feel the heat, well listen, Buster, you better start to move your feet to the rockingest, rock-steady beat of Madness.
“One step beyond!”
And, with that, the party was on. Thompson’s tenor sax stepped up to the forefront, honking and grooving through this first-tier ska classic, which was originally written and recorded by legendary Jamaican artist Prince Buster in the ’60s and then propelled to a whole new generation of listeners by the Madness cover from 1979.
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Aided at times by a three-piece horn section (to complement the work of the mighty Thompson), Madness sounded strong as it continued to move through offerings from at least eight of its 12 studio albums. Interestingly, the one that they skipped over entirely was their most recent — “Theatre of the Absurd Presents C’est la Vie.”
But let’s just call that knowing your audience, since these fans — many of whom probably danced in their parents’ living rooms while watching Madness on MTV in the ’80s — were all about hearing the old stuff.
And Madness was more than happy to oblige, cranking through such early singles as “Embarrassment” and “Baggy Trousers” (both off the 1980 sophomore effort “Absolutely) as well as “My Girl,” “Grey Day” and “House of Fun.”
I personally loved that Madness chose to include its very first single — “The Prince” — near the start of its setlist. For one thing, the song is just a blast. But, more importantly, it’s a way to get fans to remember (or even learn about for the first time) the Jamaican ska genius of Prince Buster, who played a huge role in the Madness success story. For starters, Buster originated the song that would become the U.K. band’s namesake — “Madness” — as well as the breakthrough hit “One Step Beyond.”
(If you’re a ska fan who doesn’t know Prince Buster then it’s certainly worth taking the time to correct that situation. Start with “I Feel the Spirit” and “Fly Flying Ska” and move forward.)
Madness closed the just-over-an-hour main set with its two biggest hits — “Our House” and “It Must Be Love” — which, ironically, felt pretty anticlimactic in comparison to all the goodtime ska delivered earlier in the night.
Fortunately, Suggs and company would quickly return — and crank the dance party to its highest level of the evening — with a double-shot of Prince Buster’s “Madness” and the still-fantastic “Night Boat to Cairo.”
Madness setlist: 1. “One Step Beyond” 2. “Play Video” 3. “Embarrassment” 4. “The Prince” 5. “NW5” 6. “My Girl” 7. “Taller Than You Are” 8. “Lovestruck” 9. “The Harder They Come” 10. “Shut Up” 11. “Grey Day” 12. “The Sun and the Rain” 13. “Wings of a Dove” 14. “Mr. Apples” 15. “Bed and Breakfast Man” 16. “House of Fun” 17. “Baggy Trousers” 18. “Our House” 19. “It Must Be Love” Encore: 20. “Madness” 21. “Night Boat to Cairo”
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