Madness live is a Christmas institution, but this tour was more to mark the release of the band’s umpteenth Best Of album, Hit Parade, a collection of 45 songs marking 45 years since their debut. Which might be one explanation for the lack of sparkle.

It was hard to pinpoint why this gig at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro felt so flat. It certainly wasn’t the 23-strong setlist, chock-a-block with classics that should have started a party. Nor the staging, pared back from previous tours, but full of fun graphics on numerous screens showing fabulous old footage.

A three-piece brass section in glittery gold jackets danced in sync. There was, as ever, lashings of sax. The sound was sharp, if not quite loud enough. The singer Suggs wore sunglasses and a suit.

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The perennial opener One Step Beyond went down well, suggesting business as usual. Suggs congratulated Scotland on reaching the World Cup but when that started a lengthy football chant, he wasn’t happy. “All right, Hampden Park — let’s pack it up for a second,” he said, a tad snappily.

Banal banter between songs didn’t help and Suggs was clearly keen to whip through songs. Embarrassment, My Girl, Lovestruck and Wings of a Dove flew by with scant singalongs. On the balconies, not a soul was out of their seats.

To plug Hit Parade, Madness dipped outside their standard set list with Cardiac Arrest and Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day), both fantastic but tepidly received. When Suggs mentioned a gig the band had done in Dubai the previous week, you couldn’t help but sense that he was somehow stuck in corporate gig mode, as ever the pro but far from enthusiastic.

A late run of House of Fun (for which big balloons were sent over the audience), Baggy Trousers, Our House and a loudly howled-back It Must Be Love (with a budget blast of confetti) saved the show and finally got everyone on their feet. A bagpiper playing Flower of Scotland pre encore was a nice touch, but a ska version of Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday was woeful, with Suggs’s voice sounding ever thinner. It’s probably been a busy year for the Nutty Boys.
★★☆☆☆
Touring to Dec 20, madness.co.uk

Madness setlist from the OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Dec 6

1. One Step Beyond
2. Embarrassment
3. The Prince
4. NW5
5. My Girl
6. Cardiac Arrest
7. Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day)
8. The Sun and the Rain
9. Return of the Los Palmas 7
10. Wings of a Dove
11. Lovestruck
12. Grey Day
13. Bed and Breakfast Man
14. Shut Up
15. One Better Day
16. Mr Apples
17. House of Fun
18. Baggy Trousers
19. Our House
20. It Must Be Love
21. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
22. Madness
23. Night Boat to Cairo