The Do Not Adjust Your Nut tour will be at Blackpool Empress Ballroom on Friday, November 26.

Tickets at £35 each go on sale from 9.30am on Friday from the Winter Gardens box office (0844 811 0051) or www.blackpoollive.com

Following the huge success of their last album, The Liberty Of Norton Folgate, Madness returned to the studio for an album that will be released next year.

The tour will see some of the new tracks get their first public airings as well as hits such as Our House, House Of Fun, One Step Beyond and many more.

Special guest on all dates will be The Beautiful South's Paul Heaton.
Madness frontman Suggs says he is thrilled the tour is starting in Blackpool.

"I love the place," he said. "Last time I was there was a few months ago recording part of a documentary on seaside towns out of season. I was sat in a bus shelter on the front surrounded by empty chip packets waiting for the Illuminations to come on. I was there until about 9.30pm in the dark. Nobody had told me they went off in the winter! It was a bit of a shock."

But he admits he has a soft spot for most resorts.

"I love them," he said. "They are where you go to get away from the daily grind."

And he even had good news for the town.

"I know seaside towns are going through a rough patch but compared with places like Margate and Weston-super-Mare Blackpool's doing all right," he said.

As for the tour Suggs said: "We were trying to inveigle Robbie Williams into the band but he jumped ship at the last minute and decided to play it safe with Take That!"

Being on the road would be good, he added.

"It's what we do – we make music, make some money, make people happy and have a good time," he said. "We still all enjoy each other's company and the closer we get to death the better and better it all becomes. We are having a fabulous time."

Having known each other since their teenage years the core of the band has been together over the years.

"We did a pretty extensive tour last year complete with matinees and really enjoyed it," he said. "The fans were all ages – I think the kids must have been forced to watch our videos when they were naughty."

He admitted it was difficult to realise they'd been together for 30 years or more: "We are somewhat of a slow moving organism." As for his own career, TV appearances as host, guest and celebrity on a variety of shows have made him a bit of an institution.

"I quite like the term raconteur," he said. "I've been fortunate."
As for an end to the band he says not yet.

"I always wondered if you could be dignified after a certain age," he said. "But, yes, it is possible, as long as you enjoy doing it and people enjoy watching you make a fool of yourself."