Watch Madness surprise crew of Isle of Wight ferry with performance on their way to festival

MADNESS surprised the crew of a ferry with a performance while the band was on their way to the Isle of Wight Festival.
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The ska band, who have been a regular on the music scene since the 1980s, were travelling from Southampton across the Solent onboard a Red Funnel ferry ahead of their performance on the main stage on Sunday.

The crew, who worked tirelessly over the four-day festival period taking thousands of festival goers to the Island, were treated to a surprise performance from Madness.

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Captain Alice Duncan (centre) with Suggs and Madness. Picture: Red Funnel FerryCaptain Alice Duncan (centre) with Suggs and Madness. Picture: Red Funnel Ferry
Captain Alice Duncan (centre) with Suggs and Madness. Picture: Red Funnel Ferry
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Lead singer Suggs and the rest of the band serenaded the ferry's captain Alice Duncan with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ while crossing the Solent.

Captain Duncan,who has worked for Red Funnel for almost seven years and is a big fan of Madness, celebrated her 28th birthday over the weekend.

While she was not able to see the band perform on the main stage of the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday she was treated to a front row seat as Madness joined the crew on the ship’s bridge.

Captain Duncan said: ‘My dad and I are huge fans of Madness and I’m shocked and surprised that the band came up to join the crew on the Bridge to sing Happy Birthday to me.

‘It was an amazing moment and it made up for not seeing them at this year’s festival. This will be birthday I won’t forget!’

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