It didn’t really set in until Friday morning, the day of the big event, that in the evening I would bear witness to one of the most popular ska and pop bands in British history.
Throughout the 1980s, the United Kingdom relished the craze that was this pick-and-mix bunch of outstanding musicians, producing a plethora of jazzy, nautical hits that would have a five-week-old’s head bopping. Even if you didn’t know who Madness are, you would almost assuredly know “Baggy Trousers” and “Our House”.
With a revolving presentation of number ones in the charts, Madness has lived on for over years in the hearts of many.
They have become very much an institution of the ska revival that spiked the genre’s repopularising, introducing an entirely new wave of artists with a knack for inspiring and innovating through upbeat (and occasionally downbeat) bangers.
While I can’t speak for an entire generation, I can absolutely tell you that the past generation has ingrained the likes of Madness and the Pigeon Detectives onto the young adults of today. My Mum plays Madness fairly regularly as she’s touching up old kitchen cabinets with their third coat of paint. My Dad used to play Pigeon Detectives CDs in the car on summer trips to places like Scarborough and Primrose Valley.
They say that video killed the radio, but through my upbringing I will always have the softest spot for Galaxy FM – absorbing all the instrumentation and lyrical brilliance passively, whilst gazing out of the window in the back of my parents’ respective cars.
So when Kelly and I arrived at Kirkstall Abbey on Friday evening, we knew what to expect; just not the magnitude of the event.
For over 850 years, Kirkstall Abbey has overlooked the north bank of the River Aire. Established in 1152, it enjoyed many years as one of the top monasteries in West Yorkshire until being dissolved in 1538 under Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Perhaps its true legacy came to be realised years later, when it came to be a scheduled ancient monument. Hundreds of thousands of people each year flock to visit the picturesque Cistercian ruins and imagine life from a completely different time in history.
There is something unmistakably fitting about Madness returning to the big stage before a mammoth couple of thousand people on the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey. It marked the first time the monastery ruins welcomed a gig since The Kaiser Chiefs and The Cribs took to the stage on September 11, 2011.
The Zutons
Liverpool rock group The Zutons took to the stage minutes after arriving on the grounds. Boasting their modest indie sound and at times relaxing sound, the sextet group riled the fans up for what was to follow.
The crowd was polite as the day was young – the sun shone down on what was to be a memorable couple of hours ahead. Closing with “Valerie”, perhaps their most influential song due to the group’s association with the late, great Amy Winehouse, Zutons whet the whistle for the mass of people gathered.
I was particularly impressed by the whole organisation, and how slick and by-the-books things were. Not one set started a minute too late, and with a wide range of food and drink vans to choose from, I believe it left only the bar with the longest queue all evening long.
You could not have asked for much more from a beautiful summer day in the open-air. The stage allowed peak visibility to all – well, those not trapped behind the production tent in the middle, anyway.
The Pigeon Detectives
I considered seeing The Pigeon Detectives as an accolade for the bucket-list. How ironic that years of rebelling against the ghastly idea of popular mainstream music, and being so high on smaller, intimate gigs, had led me back to one of many bands that shaped my youth – little did I know, back then.
With a lively uptick in energy in comparison to the friendly Zutons, frontman Matt Bow had the people amped up as he swung his microphone wildly, before tossing it high into the air and catching it.
I won’t lie, though – it was amusing at one point to see him miss his target and subject everybody to the nasty crash of the live mic to the stage floor! The hits were played in a joyous forty-five minute set that left some looking to hear more.
Madness
I’ll get this out here: I don’t think I have ever seen so many fezes in my life. You would have to go back in time to see such a sight, owing greatly again to Madness’s iconic 1979 music video “Night Boat to Cairo”. The merchandise stand was popping all evening long, with rows upon rows of people gathered to get a look at some of the souvenirs on display for purchase.
But where the set lengths were compact and closely abided by, Madness graced the stage and performed a near-ninety minute set. With all of the modern tricks applied, it became instantly clear how Madness had been able to establish such a legacy. Excerpts from films and television, their own music videos as well as fancy textual graphics provided an extraordinary backdrop for the group of bandmates.
With witty banter interspersed between most songs, if I closed my eyes and only heard the banter from its members, I could almost perfectly imagine a buzzing workers’ social club. While a fair few of the tracks admittedly went over my head, it plateaued in the final half-hour of the set – a perfect storm of the outfit’s greatest hits, song after song.
Embrace, set to appear on the following night, would have much to live up to after everything that this show brought.
The sun set on the Abbey as we all stood in the ruin’s shadow, as Madness performed like only they could.
Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but notice the reach of the spectacle. Oldtimers that were surely around for the advent of the group in the 1970s were still going strong, decked out in head-to-toe Madness merch! Suited blokes congregated together and went hard with pints in hand as they turned back the clock for one more night. Young children sat on their parents’ shoulders, while others mimicked what they were seeing with inflatable guitars and saxophones.
One row in front of me, a blonde-haired girl that had to be my age encouraged the dancing of a woman that had to be in her 60s. Her male partner was joined by the elder’s partner for some cheeky conversation. It stood out to me as what this was all about…..
…..Music is a spectacle to be enjoyed by the masses, regardless of background, of wealth and of ethnicity. If it sounds good, it’s really good. If it’s really good, it’ll feel good – but a large part of what drives people to gigs like these is the community we find ourselves embedded within.
In spite of age, gender, race and class, everybody came together in a humble showing of unity, all for a shared support and admiration for the bands who played. In these controversial times of war and acts of violence, I think it’s always important to remember times such as these.
Madness are still that band. May more glorious events take Kirkstall Abbey by storm!
