MORE than 30 years after they formed, Madness have embarked on the largest UK outdoor tour ever staged by any artist in the country .

North London’s most famous and nuttiest pop institution are on a 20-date Grandslam tour of the nation’s leading sporting grounds - including Portsmouth’s Fratton Park tomorrow.

Expect plenty of their hits of yesteryear including favourites such as One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun, My Girl and It Must Be Love.

But there should also be a sprinkling of tunes from their most recent albums, the extraordinarily named The Liberty of Norton Folgate and Oui, Oui, Si Si, Ja, Ja, Da Da.

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Frontman Suggs, aka Graham McPherson, called it “the greatest tour since Boudicca”.

“If you had told me this when I was a kid I’d have laughed so loudly my socks would have flown off,” he adds.

“Of course it’s remarkable and a privilege to still be doing this funny old business that we do.”

So why does he think Madness have lasted so long?

“In England alone there are probably 20 more festivals than there were when we began.

“You are playing to audiences who are there not just to see you. So through that we have managed to accrue a whole new generation by playing 40 or 50 festivals over the past five years.

“It’s been very flattering and marvellous to see so many different age groups enjoying the band.

“I think the reason we endure is that we genuinely do enjoy ourselves. From the very beginning you could see the joy in the early videos we made and hear it in the records.

“The fact that we were friends before this band started is key. I genuinely think the whole spark or art of craft and creativity was a by-product of our friendship. I think that’s what people feel.

“It’s a genuine experience. It’s not manufactured.

“I can’t ever remember being onstage and feeling fed up with the people around me.”

How do you keep the feeling of it being fresh?

“Traditionally, we don’t tour for months and months - we gave up on America and they probably gave up on us. Touring for years on end is what drains the lifeblood out of a lot of acts that I see.

“Each tour we do we try and make unique – and special. This one’s special as no one has ever done something like this – as big as this – at sporting venues like this.

“It’s a Madness madcap idea and we know people will respond to it.

How does he feel about the band’s recent album success with The Liberty of Norton Folgate and Oui, Oui, Si Si, Ja, Ja, Da Da?

“We were teetering on the cusp of the whirlpool of 80s nostalgia. We could have quite happily stopped flapping our flippers and slipped gently down into the hole with everybody else.

“But we flapped and flapped like mad and tried to write what we thought would be an album to stand with anything else we’ve done which I think we did.

“That gave us the ability to get out of the black hole. These albums didn’t sell in their millions but were extremely well received in the intellectual music circles and that has an effect on how you are perceived generally.

“If we just knocked out some old crap then you wouldn’t be held in high regard. It all added to the pot of being perceived as a working band again, we aren’t just lolling on the lilo of novelty we’re actually sailing around a bit on our own steam.”

So how will you keep yourself match fit for the tour?

“It’s like preparing for war, a war of fun y’know? A war of fun and frolics but, unlike the Romans, we are going to unleash heaven.

“I have a suspicion that if I didn’t have a few tequila shots before I went onstage I wouldn’t be quite as lubricated in the joints.

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“Tequila and orange juice is the secret of keeping those limbs loose.

“I suppose our rituals are now so ingrained that I don’t notice what the rest of the band are doing.

“We can change the setlist nightly if we wish. The main thing is to keep it exciting for yourself, that’s the way to ensure the audience is kept excited too.”

How does it feel to be playing football stadiums in a band after years of attending as a fan?

“It’s always an odd thing, you keep expecting someone to tap you on the back and say: ‘Where’s your ticket son?’ It’s happened to me enough times in my life.

“It’s great we are playing places that aren’t just major capital cities, this is what we did for years in the early days. It will be nice to go back to places we haven’t been in a long time.”

As for Portsmouth, had he any fond memories of trips to the famous naval port?

“Oh my God yes. There’s a lot of great gigs there. And football trips.

“I remember one time we went to Southampton and there was all these kids outside the station.

“I remember thinking: ‘These aren’t Chelsea fans, they are Portsmouth fans.’ But they actually wanted to come with Chelsea as they hated Southampton so much and we were tucked in this terrifying mob of Portsmouth fans.

“I expect this show to be lively.”