Madness

“Madness, this is madness…” Thus sang Suggs at the end of a brilliant concert last night. And giving the song a very topical twist was the fact that one of the screens was showing all the internet memes that had appeared yesterday about the party at Number 10 Downing Street last Xmas. It was pretty clear what the band thought of it all - the song was introduced along the lines of “that Boris hasn’t got a f*****g scooby has he?
Though I do have to temper this attitude with my own thought that I was in an arena with about 10,000 other people, none of whom were wearing masks and all of whom were singing and dancing with great enthusiasm. As we had not been asked for proof of covid status, nor did I see anyone else being challenged, I have to think that there may be more than a few cases in Liverpool following this concert.
Had the concert been taking place today of course, we would all have had to wear masks throughout. Not sure how easily that could be enforced and it would certainly have ruined the atmosphere. I only had to wear a mask for the half hour train journey in and that left me feeling hot and short of breath - don’t think I could have stood it for three hours.
One thing that gets me all the time is why it is the young (under 30) people who are most likely not to wear a mask when required to do so. Is it ignorance, arrogance or just a belief that if they get it, they’ll be ok. I don’t know, but it does show a degree of selfishness. By the time we were on the train home it was even worse because those same young people were still without masks but were now mostly drunk and singing and shouting at the top of their voices. One does worry about the future of humanity at times. Is it wrong to hope that the next covid variant only targets stupid people? I suppose we just have to wait and see if “Plan B” gives us the breathing space we need to avoid another lockdown.
Those gloomy thoughts aside, it really was a great night out. Squeeze were the support band and they did a great mix of old and new songs before Madness came on and had everyone on their feet dancing and singing throughout. Well, I say everyone, but not all at the same time. Those who might have danced all night in their twenties, found they hadn’t got the same stamina forty odd years down the line. The pattern seemed to be that you bounced around enthusiastically for a couple of numbers and then collapsed back in your seat for a breather before commencing the cycle all over again. But, at that end of the day, we did all enjoy ourselves. Let’s hope it’s a night to remember fondly and not one that marked the last day of our freedoms for a while.