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Madness: The Liberty of Norton Folgate

2009

63 minutes

Music

Overview

'Madness' are about to release a new album after 10 years, which consists of an interrelated, song cycle about London called 'The Liberty of Norton Folgate'. Although the songs are on one level about different areas of London, they focus musically on the waves of immigration to the city - Irish, Jewish, Caribbean, Asian etc and the musical legacy they have contributed to the city. The concert is at the Hackney Empire, a show with powerful connections to the grand Music Hall traditions of the place, situating Madness where they belong, clearly within a uniquely English Popular Musical Culture with its roots in the Victorian period. Weaving through the concert, Suggs and Carl, take us back in time to the London of Karl Marx and Jack the Ripper. Humorously introducing the subject of each song, they take us on a tour through the psycho geography of the Old East End, Spitalfields, Smithfield, Wapping, Bethnal Green, ending down on the beaches of the Thames beyond Tower Bridge Finally.

Top Cast

Suggs headshot

Suggs

Carl Smyth headshot

Carl Smyth

Chas Smash

Mike Barson headshot

Mike Barson

Barzo

Chris Foreman headshot

Chris Foreman

Chrissy Boy

Dan Woodgate headshot

Dan Woodgate

Woody

Mark Bedford headshot

Mark Bedford

Bedders

Lee Thompson headshot

Lee Thompson

El Thommo