Madness

Some of us have waited almost 30 years to see Madness live again. This show at Club Nokia made it worth the wait. Although a little older, 6 of the original 7 members took the stage and put on a 90 minute show that left everyone on the dancefloor tired and out of breath. Dressed in dapper, 3-button suits, Suggs, Chaz, Chris, Woody, Lee and Mike put on an incredible show consisting of almost every fan favorite. When Chaz took the mic and began the show with his trademark yell, "Hey You, don't watch that, watch this....." you knew his order had to be heeded. The show ended as energetic as it began, the band played "Night Boat to Cairo" while a dozen young ladies invaded the stage and danced. Earlier in the show, Suggs made light of their age and longevity by saying, "For those of you that just wandered into the wrong part of the casino, we're Madness." In support of their 2 shows at the Coachella Festival, the band played several shows on the West Coast; including Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. Hopefully they realize they still have a lot of fans out there and come back soon.

The show was awesome. From start to finish everyone was up of their chairs, dancing and moving with the music. The venue was small so there was not a bad seat in the house. Final verdict, the classic showmen like qualities of Madness makes this a top-rate show!

First concert I saw as an adult in the UK and 26 years later, they still have it.. I hope this isn't the last time they are at (awesome) Humphries, or So. Cal period, but if they are, I had the chance to see one of the coolest, nuttiest bands around, before going out in style.. To Madness and through all their changes over the years, thank you for coming back to S.D. and giving us real fans, another chance to see the music we grew up with, worked out with, danced to, hiked with, etc.. one more chance to enjoy it live.. God Bless and much continued success... "..........Waiter!!!!" May I add, maybe a after signing, autograph session with the group. Could be used as a great "inexpensive" fund raiser and give those who would like a bit of the band's (personal not just commercial) memorbelia..

I HAD SEEN THIS BAND THREE TIMES PRIOR TO THIS SHOW- ONCE IN 1980 AT THE COUNTRY CLUB IN RESEDA; IN 1983 WITH DAVID BOWIE AND THE GO-GO'S AT ANGEL STADIUM AND THEN A WEEK LATER AT THE PALLADIUM WITH MINISTRY. AS GREAT AS THOSE SHOWS WERE, I TRULY HAVE TO SAY THAT THEIR PERFORMANCE AT CLUB NOKIA WAS THE BEST EVER! I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO THE COACHELLA FESTIVAL,NOR WILL I EVER GO TO THE COACHELLA FESTIVAL- BUT I MUST SAY THAT I LOVE THE COACHELLA FESTIVAL BECAUSE EACH YEAR THEY GET GREAT BANDS FROM THE PAST TO RE-UNITE AND TOUR! WILL WE EVER SEE MADNESS AGAIN? WHO KNOW'S. WE CAN ONLY HOPE. BUT IF YOU MISSED THEIR SHOW AT CLUB NOKIA YOU TRULY DID MISS A VERY SPECIAL EVENT!

Seeing the Nutty Boys perform in San Diego was fantastic, great set, venue made it more personal.

Madness sounded better than ever, entertained, and kept the audience dancing all night.

Madness put on one of the best shows I have ever seen. They were very energetic and sounded awesome. Great entertainers!

The were one of the most awesome groups i have seen and sounded just as great as they did 30 years ago! Dont miss it!

Dinner was great, the menu was limited but all the choices were wonderful. The venue was small so all seats were good seats. Madness was awesome, it was a night of energy and good times.

Great band. Great show. Minor quibble: The show started at 8:30 (30 minutes late) and lasted only one hour. Still worth every penny!

Madness still has it! Havent skipped a beat in 30 years.. Loved the horn section. Wish the show could have gone on longer...

Madness proved that even 30 years after the hits they could still get the crowd jumping! They looked and sounded fabulous, had lots of fun rapport with the audience, and played old greats and a few new surprises. I was ecstatic to have front row tickets, but by the end it didn't matter; much of the audience ended up skanking/twisting/jumping around right in front of or on the stage anyway! It was my first time at Humphreys, which was a fantastic opportunity to see a band in a beautiful setting and up close. We stayed the night there at the hotel and ended up chatting with Suggs and Woody by the pool the next day - what a treat! I'm so happy to have had a chance to see them play something smaller than Coachella, especially with how rare they play live stateside. People were there from all over the U.S./world! This show will stick in my memory forever! Long live the Nutty Boys!

What a complete blast from the not too distant past... This brought back a lot of memories of when I was living in London in the early 80's. From the opening cry of "One Step Beyond", the crowd were on their feet. During the encore audience members were on stage dancing and hugging the band members until the last chords of "Night Boat to Cairo" faded into the night. A memorable night with the band and the audience having FUN. Thanks mates!

2 hours of total non-stop Madness. Band is very tight and an excellent set list. Had front row, got set list and words to "Take or Leave It" off the stage. After show, guys hung around for quite a while...Lee, Suggs and Smash. Unforgettable experience for this nutty boy

Venue was amazing and Madness still bring it! Easy to get to and staff are great.

So I have been listening to Madness since the early 80s. I did not get into them when the song "Our House" became so popular, I had been listening to them for years by that time. Recently I was gifted their latest record THE LIBERTY OF NORTON FOLGATE and loved it. It is the best record they have released since ABSOLUTELY. I was so excited when Richard Blade announced that Madness would be playing Cochella. I was even more excited when I discovered they would be playing at Humphrey's. The show was great. The band still sounds so tight. Suggs and Chaz sound great on vocals, and the rest of the band still play the songs as if the show were happening 30 years ago. Without a doubt the best part of Madness is the pianist Mike Barson. He is the heart and soul of this band and his piano defines the band. He did not disappoint. My only complaint is that they did not play enough off of Norton Folgate. I know, weird right? The record is that good. buy it today! But for all of you who have loved this band for decades, you will love the setlist which includes all of the classics.

The whole experience was fantastic! Have loved them all my life and to see them on my 40th was amazing, as were they!!

The music was good but the entire event felt like it was going in reverse. The band didn't engage with the audience at all. I felt like there was no "umf" to it. I saw Madness at least 5 times back in the day and I always loved the energy they brought to the stage but it was definitely not there this time. I was pretty bummed because I was looking foward to the concert and considering the price of the tickets I thought it was going to be a great show.

Madness always puts on a good show. I have seen them in the states and also over seas was ways a good show.

Amazing amazing AMAZING show!!! Definitely go see them when they come to town again.

I finally got to see Madness last night after waiting for nearly 30 years. I saw them at Humphries by the Bay in San Diego. This was my teenage wish come true...a little delayed, but so worth the wait. This group of men are so absolutely lively, so humble, so down to earth and very very cool. They had the entire audience up and dancing in the aisles and all around the venue. In the end, they brought fans up on stage to dance with them (how very lucky those people were). They sang all of their oldies plus a couple that I had not heard before. I highly recommend seeing this fabulous band and I truly hope that they will head out to the States more often because I will definitely buy tickets to their shows again and again!!! Suggs, you are the King of Cool!!!

What could I say! It was so much fun, saw so many old friends. Danced and drank.....Felt like I was listening to Records playing....High energy~ Perfect Night!~ A day I will always remember~

Madness opened with "One Step Beyond...", which frankly surprised me. Since it's one of they're greatest underground club songs, I'd expected it to appear in their encore. I suspect almost half of what they played was from their new album which I haven't heard yet, but it was classic Madness nevertheless. Suggs' voice was in perfect condition. I was deeply disappointed with the House of Blues in Las Vegas though, which is why I'm only giving 3 stars for the show. Madness came on at 8:30pm and ended around 10:00pm because they had double-booked Steel Panther for 11:00pm. Why they did this I have no idea. Madness' massive repertoire could've easily taken 2 1/2 hours, and thus they should've been the only ones booked for the evening. Furthermore, HOB is adding VIP seating everywhere they can to get an extra buck, especially around the main floor, and much of which was never used. This essentially squeezed the General Admission attendees into places where they couldn't see the concert because they were forced behind a column (as we were). And to top that off, the balcony seats were virtually empty. Do us a favor, HOB, get rid of the VIP sections on the ground floor and put the VIP's up in the balcony. Besides "One Step Beyond...", they also played "Our House", "Grey Day", "Night Boat to Cairo", "House of Fun", "Shut Up", "Bed and Breakfast Man," "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" and "My Girl". I was disappointed that they didn't play "In the Middle of the Night", which is a hysterical song about somebody stealing women's undergarments. Nor did they play, "Mummy's Boy", "Baggy Trousers", "Cardiac Arrest", "Rise and Fall", or "Blue Skinned Beast"... and I suspect it was because of the double-booking with Steel Panther, which still boggles my mind. I mean, Christ, they're a 3rd-rate hair-metal cover band. I'm almost certian HOB paid people to buy their tickets. HOB should've given the entire night to Madness, and at $40 per ticket, I felt I was ripped off.

Played all their hits, they put on an excellent show.