To say that MADNESS are national treasures would be an understatement. The British pop giants are to headline a massive outdoor show at DEPOT LIVE AT CARDIFF CASTLE this summer.
The Nutty Boys, who scored their first studio UK Official Charts No.1 album, Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie on Friday, will bring their legendary live show to the Welsh capital on Thursday July 18th.- ticket details at the bottom of the page.
Madness have chalked up 15 UK Top 10 singles – including the timeless Our House, It Must Be Love, One Step Beyond, My Girl, Wings Of A Dove and Baggy Trousers – together with 10 Top 10 albums.
And they are now celebrating hitting the number one spot with an album for the first time.
The pop greats, whose Cardiff Castle date is part of a 19-date summer tour, told us…..
“Would you Adam and Eve it?! It only took us 40 years to get there but we’ve just gone and ruddy scored our first Number One album with Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie and we thought, what better way to celebrate than to announce a summer tour?!”
The headlining show is presented by promoters DEPOT Live and Cuffe and Taylor. Nick Saunders from DEPOT Live said……
“Madness are a brilliant live act. They perform hit after hit and they are the epitome of fun. We can’t wait to welcome them to Cardiff for what will be a fantastic night out for everyone.”
The full Cardiff Castle line up looks like this…..
- 14th June – The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer with support from Teen Mortgage
- 5th & 6th July – Manic Street Preachers and Suede
- 7th July – JLS
- 18th July – Madness
- 26th July – Tom Grennan
Madness say this tour is “sure-to-be triumphant” return to the road.
They promise it will be “the Nutty Boys back to doing what they do best – uniting the people for a right raucous live bash,” with a stream of hits from a huge back catalogue.
Madness are the soundtrack to so many of our lives and they are still as exciting and entertaining a live act today as they ever were. This December the Arena will be filled with so many classic tracks turning it into an early festive party like no other.
I do have a little bit of history with the band, so suggesting you grab a ticket is an easy recommendation. I caught them fairly early in their career at the Dominion in London. Years later I was blessed to introduce the guys onto stage at Princess Anne’s home, Gatcombe Park. I have another story where I bumped into Princess Anne (literally) at the end of the gig as she made her way to see the guys in their marquee, but that’s for another time.
The final time I saw them live was at Radio Two’s Festival in a Day in Hyde Park. I can tell you from that first gig, right through to today Madness entertained us every time. The crowd of eager fans love them, and it’s clear the guys love playing live too.
Like all of us, Madness have had a tough time through lockdown but they punctuated it with the critically acclaimed docu-series Before We Was on BT TV and most recently their livestreamed show The Get Up!, from the London Palladium.
The Get Up! was a one-time-only global livestream scripted by Charlie Higson, the evening featured two sets of classic Madness songs including Our House, One Step Beyond and Baggy Trousers, Comedy, Mike Barson as HRH Queen Elizabeth II and guest appearances by Paul Weller and Roland Gift. The stream also saw Madness premiere three new songs, Cruelest Comedy, If I Go Mad and Baby Burglar giving fans a tantalising glimpse into the treasure trove of future classics still bursting from the evergreen Nutty Boys.
Throughout their incredible career, Madness have had 10 UK top ten albums, 15 top ten singles and have won a multitude of awards including a prestigious Ivor Novello. They’ve performed on the top of Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and set the record for the biggest ever audience for the BBC’s Live New Year’s Eve Broadcast – the most watched TV music event of 2018.
One of our favourite clips features Madness performing the classic song Heatwave, and yes that is Paul Weller joining the guys on stage.
It’s difficult to pick just one song from such a huge catalogue of hits but Our House is one of those you can’t help but singalong too, it feels like it’s been around forever. The original video for which was filmed in Willesden Junction, North London has been restored from the original 1982 16mm film print; this new 4k version brings this iconic video to life. You can watch the new 4K version HERE.
MADNESS get to Cardiff Castle next year on Thursday July 18th. Tickets are on general sale HERE
