ul

[Rut]

WhenMadness pierced the veil of American pop culture in 1983, the rupture opened only a tiny pinhole for us to gaze through. The view was foggy, distorted and incomplete. I formed false first impressions, and most of my countrymen barely registered any at all prior to that ephemeral pinhole sealing back up. But I heard something and felt something on the other side of that trans-Atlantic barrier, so I clawed open my own damn pinhole with my bare hands. I worked at it, I kept listening, I scoured music magazines for scant precious information, I tracked down their past recordings, I became a loyally devoted fan, and I stretched that pinhole wide enough to climb though and tumble headlong into the realm of Madness. I put in the time and effort, digging to excavate the gold I knew was there beneath the surface.

After kicking off the celebration with fIREHOSE in Fresno, I boldly headed south in my Alamo rental toward back-to-back Madness gigs. It was very much a tale of two cities. Los Angeles is intense and metropolitan, San Diego is laid-back and breezy. Club Nokia was downtown, Humphreys was down by the bay. To get to the L.A. show and back I had to take a crowded city bus and a cab, but in San Diego the gig was right next door to my hotel. Even the In-N-Out Burger experiences in the two towns were respectively chaotic and relaxed. But wherever you go, that Double-Double Animal Style is gonna be pure heaven on a bun. And whenever you find M-A-D-N-eeeee-S-S-yes! You know what you got.

Congratulations, California Madheads! After much rumor and speculation, we finally have official confirmation of a Madness Los Angeles tour date slotted in on Sunday, May 26. Presale starts Tuesday, March 5 with code CESTLAVIE. This belated announcement comes after a second date in Oakland crept into the itinerary, which brings us Americans a total of lucky seven gigs.

Originally announced for 2020, then postponed, then rescheduled, postponed and rescheduled, then cancelled, the Madness U.S. Tour of nigh-Bigfoot/Loch Ness Monster status is finally, really happening this May. Probably. Fingers crossed.

Joining the previously unveiled headlining appearance at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, the band has announced the following succinct slate of U.S. dates. (Note: This list has been updated with dates subsequently announced for May 24 and May 26.)

Scene: Mr Trull sits alone in the balcony box, polishing off a Cadbury Flake 99 ice cream and fiddling on his iPhone. A sparse arrangement of the orchestral overture from The Liberty of Norton Folgate is reaching its crescendo. Mr Young enters hurriedly, toting a pint of Kronenbourg beer and plopping into his seat as the house lights dim.

MR TRULL: No way. I just thought he meant the title as a euphemism for the F-word. Never would have guessed it was inspired by hydraulic fracturing and eco protests, before Chris added the COVID commentary.

THE COMPRE (over a creepy organ melody and audience chatter): And so ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, we come to the epilogue. They say all clouds have a silver lining. Will our hero be saved? Who will have the courage to stand and fight?

Our two fanboys collapse back onto their ice cream and beer-stained seats, spent and wheezing. The empty theatre in London has become just that, a dark and empty expanse devoid of sound, save for the faint crackle of the needle repeating at the end of vinyl side four runout groove.

Scene: Some dark theatre in London. At centre stage rests a single elevated balcony box, framed by red velvet curtains. Within the regal luxury box are sat two middle-aged gentlemen of refined bearing, clad in old-fashioned three-piece suits festooned with Madness lapel pins.

The curtain raises, revealing a backcloth painted with a nuclear explosion. Suddenly the band appear, frozen in a single transfixed tableau. Beset all around by drones, robot attacks, missiles, incoming meteor strikes, the band members display varied expressions of panic, all save Suggs, who grins brandishing slightly damaged crockery. A fog of fracking gas leaks across the stage while a newspaper flickers aflame, illuminating the walls in the dark and near-empty theatre. This is all reflected only within the eyes of our two shocked onlookers.

MR YOUNG: Lovely little trumpet flourishes from Joe near to the end here. A very strings-led tune that grew in arrangement from the first lockdown gig with that string quartet. Listen closely at the end of the second minute, you can hear someone strike up their zippo lighter twice, just to add to the atmospheric absurdity. So how many lard biscuits you reckon, then?

MR YOUNG (earnestly): This emotionally moves me. I married this year. I heard this song at Koko and it resonated personally with me. When I compared notes after the concert, it turns out my wife had a similar transportation to a personal life moment with this tune. Proof we can all apply this to any emotional experience of coupled comfort or down distress of any kind. Go to this tune in your own hour of need. It will be there.

Without more ado, MIS and Stateside Madness have teamed up for a petit preview of the album (of the pure joy to our ears), as well as news of our joint international coverage set for album release week.

We are so thankful that after 44 years of their ups and their downs, our best-loved band is still capable of producing music at an astonishing level. Madheads worldwide are on the cusp discovering of something very special.

Next week Stateside Madness and MIS join forces in greater detail and dive in track-by-track. In the news email issue and on the SSM blog, we commence a two-part massive theatrically absurd review, entitled: SSM and MIS present Absurdlutely Mad: Une Critique Musicale

While I left the classroom before I learned about March Music Madness (MMM), I am a huge fan and will absolutely implement when I return to the classroom. This tournament-style activity is a smart way to inject energy into the Spring doldrum. Students will leave March with music (language!) in their ears and a rhythm to their step--just in time for course selection for the coming fall ;-)

Essentially, March Music Madness operates in the same way as March Madness (College Basketball)--substituting songs from the target cultures for collegiate basketball teams. A bracket is created (see below for advice on this), and then songs are paired up in matches, tournament-style, until an eventual winner is chosen.

I sent out a survey to some of the teachers that I know have implemented MMM for at least several years to find out how they create their brackets and what they do with the songs in each round. I'll be adding more responses as they filter in, so please check back for more. You can also find all of the resources that they shared with me on this pinboard.

WHY MMM: In a twitter #langchat on music, someone once said that music in the classroom is a hook. It connects students with the language and hopefully will encourage them to listen to music outside of the classroom and come to appreciate the language.

BRACKET FORMATION: I listen to latin music almost exclusively, so I am familiar with the trending music. I try to find top songs from the current year from a variety of genres. For reference, I also look at the Billboard Latin Charts and Top Selling songs on iTunes. Many of the top hits that I personally enjoy to listen to I have to reject because of lyrics or mature music videos. I try to use songs that are appropriate for all ages.

ROUND 1: This year, I believe I will just have students listen to the song. In the past when I show the video, a lot of students will vote for the song based on just the video instead of the song itself. I have students fill out an opinion sheet and rank the beat, the lyrics, and give it an overall score out of 5 stars.

ROUND 2: In the second round, we will watch the video (official video if appropriate, otherwise the lyric video). For some songs we will do an activity such as a cloze activity, matching lyrics to English, or putting lyric strips in order.

SOME 2018 CONTENDERS: I decided to add a Banda song for the first time this year and feature a lot of Vallenato songs. My pick in the bracket so far is "Loco Enamorado" by Abraham Mateo.

WHY MMM: To expose students to current music, to expand vocabulary ( a little bit) but mainly to have fun. The month of March can be long in Maine and MMM is a great way to add excitement.

BRACKET STRUCTURE: I check the iTunes top Latin chart, Billboard top Latin hits, and songs that are shared on other colleague's blogs and on Twitter. My students also give me song suggestions.

CHAMPION TREATMENT: We celebrate the championship match with as much fanfare as possible. If the music video is good, I'll turn it into a MovieTalk unit. (Last year, Despacito won but we didn't do anything with the song!)

SAME BRACKETS IN ALL LEVELS? I used to have different brackets for different levels but last year I used the same bracket for every level that I teach. It was much easier for me. The only difference this year will be that we might explore the lyrics a bit more in the upper levels (definitely depends on the lyrics though!)

MANIA HISTORY: I've been using music for my entire career. In March/April of Spanish III we almost always are working with Colombia/Venezuela/Dominican Republic in some context. I used to have my students rate their favorite Juanes song. However, three years ago (I think), via my wonderful Twitter PLN, I saw a post (I think it was SpanishPlans), about a "March madness" activity with music. I immediately knew it was for me!

WHY MMM: There is not just one purpose, there are multiple purposes: Sheer fun, making connections with other cultures, artists, classes and students, promoting life long learning, furthering a love of Latin music, making Spanish "relevant", "interesting", and "cool", promoting student choice and individual interests, providing comprehensible input, enhancing comprehensible input and simply for the joy of it!

3a8082e126