Live Through This: rock nyc’s Top Concert Picks Week Of May 11th, 2020

In the alternate timeline, I was going to see Graham Parker at City Winery on Thursday and the Nutty Boys themselves for (for me) the first time since the 80s when I reviewed Madness in concert for the Village Voice, at Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday. I was gonna take Friday as a vacation day. Funnily enough, for a week with no live shows I had a problem deciding which my favorite one was… but… cmon, it’s Madness…

I saw Graham last on 2015 (here) and he was great, in 2018 he dropped another great album (Graham and Wreckless Eric just keep on going) and late last year dropped a terrific single “Nixon’s Rules”.

As for Madness, the Two Tone Great British ska band who are always joking, always skilful and cheerful, and nearly as beloved as the (late) Queen Mother. That was a great time, the late 1970s for Two Tone: The Specials, Selecter, the English Beat and Bad Manners: they all maintained a strong career long after the days when they ruled the charts…

Here  is Madness setlist from the Roundhouse last December:

Support act
Nutty Theme
Stepping Into Line
Mistakes
Swan Lake
(Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky cover)
Land of Hope and Glory
The Young and the Old
Bed and Breakfast Man
The Prince

Headline act
One Step Beyond
(Prince Buster cover)
Embarrassment
NW5
My Girl
Uncle Sam
Bullingdon Boys
Drip Fed Fred
Shut Up
Before We Was We
Never Knew Your Name
Forever Young
Wings of a Dove
In My Street
House of Fun
Baggy Trousers
Our House
It Must Be Love
(Labi Siffre cover)

Encore:
Madness
(Prince Buster cover)
Night Boat to Cairo