Melody Maker - My First Gig

Gail Porter saw Madness at The Playhouse, Edinburgh, in 1982.

"It was my 11th birthday and I'd asked my auntie and uncle to take me and my little brother. The embarrassing thing was my mum had put me in this dress and my auntie and uncle were dressed very smartly, but we were surrounded by people with "Ska" tattooed on their skulls! And there's me in my best frock! The Jo Boxers were supporting and their mike broke so the singer leapt into the crowd and started snogging some chick. So I'm thinking, "This is the coolest thing ever, apart from the fact that I'm wearing this stupid dress" and my aunt and uncle are thinking "Oh my goodness, what have we brought her to?"

I was completely in love with Woody and Suggs from Madness and it was a brilliant gig. I did the nutty dance and I went into school the next day and told my teacher all about it. I dread to think what those skinheads thought of me, I must've got slagged rotten. I mean, I don't look 28 now, so imagine what I looked like when I was 11! They must have thought, "What's going on? There's some six-year-old in a dress!" My brother was really scared by it all and the next gig I took him to was Siouxsie & The Banshees where he was so scared he started crying! He was completely traumatised!

"I still love Madness now. The only reason I agreed to do "Night Fever" on Channel 5 was because Suggs hosts it. The man's a legend."