Baggy Trousers and The Sound of Madness. Saturday night saw blocked roads, hundreds of taxis and hordes of black t-shirted fans.
Baggy Trousers – The Sound of Madness and their take on London’s favourite sons’ many hits and quirky japes.
Ska has always been a popular genre. From the raw Reggae-infused sounds of Prince Buster and the Skatalites, the 2-Tone revival in the late 1970’s with the Specials, the Selecter and Madness. Latterly to the U.S. Punk / Ska years of No Doubt and Sublime and into a new wave of Ska artists such as London’s excellent Death of Guitar Pop.
The show was populated by fans from many of those eras, with a healthy contingent of Brits stubbornly ignoring their phones and engaging in the singalong party of the year
Baggy Trousers took to the stage with the most obvious of opening tunes One Step Beyond with frontman Rob Harvey ably taking both the Suggs and Chas Smash roles, his reassuring estuary accent (with a hint of Cockney) only adding to the authenticity.
They covered album tracks and rarities along with the well-received hits: Our House, The Prince, It Must Be Love, My Girl, Driving in my Car, House of Fun and a storming Last Boat to Cairo.
The only disappointment for the evening were the thousands who couldn’t get into the Tuning Fork and had to settle for the Tool show next door.
Greg Haver
Photography by Greg Haver
Baggy Trousers
Skarpakazoo
