Madness
Originally uploaded by Jake Sutton.
Sure it’s a useless picture, but it represents one of the super-funnest moments of my recent history.
Last night we saw 80′s ska masters Madness at a relatively tiny club called the Troubadour in LA. The marquee only listed the opening band, the Aggrolites, and some group called The Dangermen. (As it turns out that’s the name of the new Madness album.)
What a show! The Aggrolites were a perfect opening band — high energy “dirty reggae” was just the thing to get the crowd in the mood. Then, after a frustratingly long wait beween sets, Madness came on stage looking like a flashback to two decades ago. The group still kicks out the mad ska jams, even though they’re a bunch of (at least) forty-year-olds.
This was also my first “secret” concert, so that adds to the cool factor a bit. The only celebs we saw, though, were Dicky Barrett from the Bosstones (he’s on Kimmel and LA radio nowadays) and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols (he’s also a fancy LA radio jockey now).
In a loving way, I HATE YOU!!! I’ve never gotten jealous about women. But, unexpectantly seeing Madness???? I don’t think I’ve been a darker shade of green in my life. Only wandering haplessly into a $5.00 Ween concert could be cooler.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. We knew we had this waiting for us in LA, but the whole *secret* thing makes it the slightest bit cooler.
Um, You saw Angelo from Fishbone too.
Ah, yes. I should count Angelo as well.
Fun fact: I once got my fist stuck in Angelo Moore’s armpit at a Fishbone show.