Madness - 2010-11-30 - Manchester Apollo, UK

This is quite a poignant recording for me and I've thought long and hard about what to do with it over the last few months. A day or so after the concert, David, a good friend who was with me on the night, was to enter hospital for a stem cell transplant in his final attempt to beat the cancer that had blighted his life for several years. To cut a long story short, and despite the actual success of his fight against cancer, David's body could take no more and he tragically lost his battle for life on Sunday 22nd May, 2011 at the far-too-young age of just 28.

My memories of this show will forever be watching him dancing and singing the night away with his girlfriend and just thoroughly enjoying himself as much as anyone else in the building. You would never have guessed that he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

So, this recording is dedicated to the wonderful memory of David Horan. A braver man you could never wish to meet.

There is some crowd noise present (cheers Keith!), but hey, this was a Madness concert after all! At the start of the song "Madness", the crowd started singing the tune of "Tom Hark" which Suggs went along with for a minute or so. I've tracked this separately within the recording, but it is in no way the complete song.

Enjoy!  :-)

Madness - 2010-11-30 - Manchester Apollo - MP3
161MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. One Step Beyond
02. Embarrassment
03. Shut Up
04. Driving in my Car
05. NW5
06. Hey Girl
07. My Girl
08. Lovestruck
09. Forever Young
10. The Sun And The Rain
11. The Young and The Old
12. Tomorrow's Just Another Day
13. Bed And Breakfast Man
14. Clerkenwell Polka
15. The Prince
16. La Luna
17. Chrissy Boy's Showtime
18. House Of Fun
19. Tom Hark
20. Madness
21. Baggy Trousers
22. Our House
23. It Must Be Love
24. _encore break_
25. Tarzan's Nuts
26. Wings Of A Dove
27. Night Boat To Cairo

(Photo courtesy of the wonderful Shirlaine Forrest Photography)

(Download link updated on 27th January, 2013)