It looked pretty cool, similar looking to the recent photoshop Do Not Adjust Your Nut style tour poster, but the band were in some alternate poses and the background was more palm trees and parrots looking than the previous primrose hill setting. And while we werent allowed to take a copy of it as it went off to the printers, we did note down the location of all the gigs displayed on it, here they are as best we could remember them, with a little information we gathered from the web, and from a couple of comments Management made when they previously mentioned about a couple of the gigs recently...
It seems Madness are planning a full tour of Islands from September 2011. In locations around Britain, Europe and even North Africa... The poster was titled the "Islands Ahoy! Tour." And Now we understand why Lee has that anchor chain in previous pictures! Here are the gigs & a few relevant links we found...
1. Jersey - Jersey Live Festival - September 3rd
Kicking off in the land of John Nettles, tickets are already on sale for this one.
http://www.jerseylive.org.uk/
2. Mallorca - Mallorca Rocks - September 13th
3. Ibizia - Ibizia Rocka - September 14th
2 gigs on Spanish Islands, it isnt quite a load of balearics, but it's a start.
http://www.ibizarocks.com/
4. Isle of White - Bestival - September 11th (most likely date)
Secret special guests again at this one. And again the secret isnt that well kept! As the poster hints blatantly at this one...
5. Gran Canaria - Auditorio - September 16th
Madness actually return to Las Palmas! How cool they are doing a gig there, well figuratively song title speaking its a return, as this will actually be their first gig on this island in the capital city.
http://www.festivaldemusica.com
6. Gibralta - Gibralta Song Festival - September 24th
A 30 minute after show set, and Madness are also performing at the opening ceremony, we were told Chris's showtime will be Queen's "We Will Rock You".
http://www.gibraltarsongfestival.com/home.php
7. Isle of Yeu - Late September
We think this is just off the coast of France. We couldnt remember or find on the net the details of the venue where this will take place. So instead here's the islands National Antheme...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAfqguL88tA
8. Isla Nublar - October
Didnt get much info on this gig, but the gossip is it's tentative due to security concerns, and I think they said they had a tribute band to T-Rex playing or something...
9. Craggy Island - Ted Fest 6 - October
Off the coast of Ireland, this location became famous as the setting of the 90's sitcom about priests, They hold a fan festivals now which swells the islands population, as people come from all over the world to celebrate the show. Madness play the Friday Night Headline at Ted Fest 6. To get to Craggy Island head out of Galway and go slightly north until you see the English boats with the nuclear symbols on the side. Beware to get there early though, as if there is bad weather they do tend to take the roads in.
http://www.tedfest.org/tedfest5.php?Action=Tedfest5
10. Isla St Clair - Generations Folk Festival - October
Off the coast of Scotland, this former spanish colony became a big thing in the late 70's as a hub of traditional scottish folk music. But we are a bit worried about it's reputation for bad weather, this one could have you saying. "oh, what a grey day"
http://www.islastclair.com/factfile.html
11. Thousand Island - October
Sorry again when making notes we didnt quite get the full information on this one, but we do remember it being said that there was a strict "dressing" code.
http:/www.thousandislandlive.com
12. Tracy Island - Corporate gig - Early November
This one is a corporate only gig for a company called IR. It's in a secret location. IR are the company behind all the travle arrangements for the whole of this tour who will be flying Madness around in their range of large custom built super vehicles, we were told. A limited number of tickets for the public will be available for this gig but we think you'll really have to pull the right strings to get hold of them.
http://www.tracyislandchronicles.com/
13. Monkey Island - Scum Bar Live - Early November
This ones a bit of puzzler to be honest. We've been clicking around, and looking, but not sure we've really got anywhere with it. So sorry no help with this one.
http://www.monkeyislandscumbarlive.com
14. Traffic Island - September 1st
Madness will be playing a small busk on the roundabout on the B229 in Camden, as a press launch for the tour.
15. Minehead Island (To Be Created before November 25th)
Ok so Minehead isnt technically an island currently, Its just costal, but we were told that ahead of the House of Fun Weekender, construction work beings in October, using buckets and spades to dig the location a moat. If all goes to plan then the Butlins holiday camp will be officially announced as a seperate Island from the uk main land by Early November. This gig is currently advertised as Over 18's only but if you look closely the terms and conditions mentions that only strong swimmers will be admitted. Here's an artists impression of what Butlins will look like after the digging is finished.
www.bigweekends.com/madness
Jonathan Young / Owen Collins
