Madness Announces First US Tour Since 2012
The band will visit Seattle, Oakland, Las Vegas, Boston, and New York, giving American audiences their first chance to see the band in over a decade.
By: Michael Major Jan. 16, 2024
The beloved British ska and pop band Madness announced their first US tour since 2012. The band will visit Seattle, Oakland, Las Vegas, Boston, and New York, giving American audiences their first chance to see the band in over a decade.
The Madness C'est La Vie In America tour follows their new UK #1 album Theatre of the Absurd Presents C'est la Vie. In their 40-year careers, the bandmates released numerous hit singles and two #1 greatest hits albums, but this is their first #1 studio album.
“I remember the first time we were in the USA, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, The Mud Club, ABC City. I remember Jelly Bean Benetiz, Madonna, Beastie Boys, Run DC Link Ray. I remember California, Fishbone, BossTones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Whisky Gogo, The Dead Kennedys. America was everything we hoped it would be, we were small fish and we still are and we can't wait to be swimming in those waters again!”
– Suggs, frontman
Madness C'est La Vie In America
May 2024
22 – Seattle, WA @ Wamu Theater
23 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
24 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
27 – Las Vegas, NV @ Las Vegas Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival
29 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
30 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
The governing principle behind Theatre Of the Absurd Presents C'Est La Vie, is: “let Madness be Madness.” The result is an album of typically timeless brilliance that also reflects the wonky years of its creation. These 14 songs represent the cream of the bumper crop of tunes the group cooked up, whittled down to this punchy, focused set.
There are moments of ineffably catchy pop excellence (drummer Daniel “Woody” Woodgate's beguiling, bittersweet carousel “Round We Go,” Chrissy-Boy's anarchic anthem to perhaps-justified paranoia, “Run For Your Life”), while the album is bookended by two of Suggs' finest compositions “Theatre Of The Absurd” and “In My Street.”
Elsewhere, Lee “Kix” Thompson's macabre “The Law According To Dr Kippah” recreates the saxman's memories of the broiling summer of 1976, while “Baby Burglar” recites the true-life tale of being burgled while his family slept. Barso's “Beginner's 101,” meanwhile, is another tale of crime, a heist movie playing out across a four-minute pop song, echoing Bogart classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
A very special prologue running through the album is supplied by Emmy and BAFTA Awards winning Martin Freeman. A longtime fan, the relationship formed with the band when Madness' manager found Martin in a meet and greet queue and introduced him to the members.
The album is available on double vinyl and CD with a limited crystal-clear vinyl sold through HMV and indie stores - available here. The official album store features an exclusive cassette and merchandise bundles - available here.
Madness famously emerged from the backstreets of Camden Town in the late 70s and recently released a three-part original docu-series with TV channel AMC about the beginnings of the band in the area. Before We Was We: Madness by Madness chronicles the rise of one of the most loved bands in British culture.
Throughout their 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 the most enduring and evergreen live shows this country has to offer, their everybody's-welcome celebrations of life's ups, downs and everything in the middle(s), continue to attract new generations of fans from across every walk of life.
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