Thursday 08/07/04 Madness, Ocean Colour Scene, Jimmy Cliff, The Stranglers @ Move Festival, Manchester

Move: The return of the urban festival.

Its great having a festival thats only twenty minutes walk from where I live and Old trafoord cricket ground is a great backdrop for a few days of goodtime reverly and rotten weather!

Another four day stake-out of Move starts with the Dads and Lads' day. A distinctly unfashionable run of bands, this is the world of heritage rock, bands who have racked up a whole series of classic hit singles from the days when the top thirty meant something to people's lives.

The Stranglers are on far too early. A band with this many hit records should be second on the bill. Its mid afternoon and most of the fanbase is still at work, but there is still a sizable turn out for the perennial men in black to rattle through their set of classic hits and fab new tracks off their sterling and well recommended 'Norfolk Coast' comeback album. They may have had to rely on their genius back catalogue for the past few years, but the current album proves that The Stranglers are a long way away from being a spent creative force. Its their best album since 1983's 'La Folie' and a hint that with a bit of luck they could still return to the charts and once more glower at the world from the bright lights of pop stardom. A unique and underated band, The Stranglers are a fantastic kick off to the Move festival.

Jimmy Cliff manages to get the sun to shine with a well executed set of reggae classics. Getting onto the bill due to proposed headliners UB40 dropping out the Jamaican legend is in fine form and underlines his heritage status with a non-stop run of classic tunes; especially 'The Harder They Come', still one of the greatest reggae songs ever released.

Ocean Colour Scene run through their  nu-millennium mod anthems with an adept ease. Musically skilled, originality is not the key here. Its more about feel-good, good-time nostalgia and a very adept run through the best riffs from a whole canyon of rhythm and blues mashed into anthemic pop. Their heyday may have been in the mid-nineties, but their musical ouvre is the sixties and - Weller aside - they fly the mod flag better than anyone else.

Madness are - of course - fantastic, a machine gun of great hit records; a human jukebox who know about entertaining, about putting on a great show. Their audience of middle aged ex-skins, popheads and young pre-teen ska punkers have come to give props to an increasingly influential band and skank like crazy to the band's good time pop nous. Every hit is joyfully played and Suggs is the perfect master of ceremonies. At one point he gets the whole crowd to wave to two kids in the stands, 4000 people turn round with their hands in the air, its a great comic moment and underlines Madness' showmanship and close relationship with their audience.

'Embarrassment', 'Wings Of A Dove' and 'Baggy Trousers' are given a celebratory good-time run through as Madness prove themselves  to be the consummate entertainers, the best good time band in the country and kings of timeless pop only those hard of heart or totally enslaved by fashion can question.

Photos by Dave Kent