Dublin: To The Point of Madness

I made the 102 mile journey down to Dublin from Belfast after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Finally I was going to see the band that has more or less shaped my childhood - Madness. All that was on my mind was hearing those opening words of Chas thundering throughout The Point Theatre, “Hey You, Don’t watch that, watch this…’’

"The support band (to which I do not know the name) came on stage at exactly 8pm. They consisted of four men, a lead vocalist, two guitar players and some other guy playing a ukulele. Usually I’m not a big fan of support acts but they certainly did make the time pass quicker, including in their set John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” and Irish favourite “Dirty Old Town.”
So after about a half an hour they finished and I congratulate them on getting a decent response out of the crowd. It wasn’t long now… and after about another 15 minutes of waiting a few lights went out, the crowd starting singing, calling the name and sure enough, at around 9pm they appeared on stage with a massive screen behind them. I was in awe watching them, I mean here were my heroes, and my moment had arrived.

Read Patrick Murphy's full reveiw in this Sunday's MIS issue 398 email.

Dublin Setlist: One Step Beyond, My Girl, Embarrassment, Lovestruck, Taller than You Are, The Sun and the Rain, On the Beat Pete, The Prince, Los Palmas 7, Shut Up, House of Fun, Iron Shirt, Girl, Grey Day, NW5, Bed & Breakfast Man, Baggy Trousers, Wings of a Dove, Our House, It Must be Love, Sorry, Madness, Night Boat to Cairo, Swan Lake, Pig Bag.