Legendary chart-topping British ska icons Madness will make their Sydney Opera House debut on Friday 5 March 2027, bringing nearly five decades of infectious ska, pop and new wave to the Forecourt.
Returning to Australia for the first time since 2017, the band will perform timeless hits including Our House, It Must Be Love, Baggy Trousers, and House of Fun, alongside songs spanning their celebrated catalogue – one of the most enduring songbooks in popular music.
The original Nutty Boys of Camden, Madness formed in North London in the late 1970s and became defining figures of Britain’s 2 Tone ska revival, evolving into one of the country’s most successful and best-loved bands. With top 10 singles in the UK, millions of records sold worldwide and a catalogue woven into the fabric of British culture, Madness are firmly etched into the cultural landscape, with music that continues to resonate across generations. Their most recent studio album, Theatre of the Absurd Presents C’est La Vie, reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart in 2023, the first studio album of their career to reach the top spot. In 2012, they performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall said: “Few bands have turned pure, unadulterated joy into something so brilliantly subversive and enduring as Madness. I first saw them aged 10, performing House of Fun on TV, and can still remember thinking: ‘What was that?! I want to watch it again!’ Their infectious mayhem didn’t just spearhead the 2 Tone/ska subculture, they reconstructed the DNA of British pop music with a raw, sharp-witted class consciousness wrapped in ska syncopation.
“Bringing their high-energy, theatrical live show to the Forecourt is a dream come true. Their blistering live catalogue is a masterclass in controlled madness – brimming with surging horns and ecstatic choral swells that feel simultaneously nostalgic and alive. Madness on the Sydney Opera House steps isn’t just a concert, it’s a harbourside takeover by one of the world’s most uncompromising, timeless and joyously chaotic bands.”
Madness join Angus & Julia Stone, Dijon, Cat Power and Tara Clerkin Trio as part of the Opera House’s electrifying season of summer music, with more to be announced.
EVENT DETAILS
WHO: Madness
WHEN: Friday 5 March 2027, gates 6pm
WHERE: Forecourt, Sydney Opera House