It’s a great view from the top of Buckingham Palace apparently.
Ten years ago Madness performed on the roof of the Queen’s residence as part of her Diamond Jubilee concert.
Iconic as it was, the circumstances made it a trying night for the band, according to Graham McPherson – better known as Suggs.
The nutty boy frontman of the band shared this fact, amongst many other witty and wistful tales at a busy Music Hall in Aberdeen on Saturday January 29.
The Madness singer is out on the road again, hosting an ‘evening with’ that he has charmingly badged the What a King Cnut tour, and it’s no surprise that audiences love it.
Suggs arrived on stage decked out in a wig and a Mac, with a throne nearby.
Tales of falling out with Queen’s Brian May
There was method to this particular madness though, as he explained that he feels sympathy for the king who famously tried to hold back the tide.
Joined by pianist and occasional narrator Deano, we settled into the house of fun as he took the audience through some cracking stories.
There were tales of falling out with Queen’s Brian May, forgetting lyrics in front of millions at the London Olympics as well as some moving words on finally meeting the sister he never knew he had.
This format where an entertainer leaves the band at home and gives audiences an insight into how they got where they did and what happened on the way is growing in popularity. It’s not hard to see why.
Suggs isn’t short of wit, charm or tales of scrapes
With song royalties falling as listeners shift to streaming their music and age catching up with many acts, this intimate approach looks increasingly attractive to artists and their fans.
Of course, a show like this only works if the subject has a story to tell and conveys it in an engaging way. Fortunately for the audience that was in last night, Suggs (who’s now 62), isn’t short of wit, charm or tales of getting into scrapes.
And of course, there is also the small matter of those hit songs. Madness spent more weeks on the chart in the 1980s than any other group, chalking up some 30 UK hits.
Two hours at the Music Hall packed with anecdotes about a life in music
Looking around me, the Music Hall audience were the very people who went out and bought those singles at the time, so there were hearty cheers when Suggs broke into stripped-back excerpts of My Girl, House Of Fun and Our House. With so much affection coming from the audience it was a shame that there wasn’t a Q&A section that the open, informal feel of the night could have allowed.
That said we were hardly short-changed after two hours packed with anecdotes about a life in the music business. Long may the Madness continue.
Terrific.