The Buzzcocks' guitarist Steve Diggle still looks and acts like a mischievous punk rocker from the late 70s. And while the band's main man Pete Shelley has let himself go a little and is more reserved, he hasn't lost those high, quavering vocals that made songs like Fiction Romance, Ever
Fallen In Love? and Orgasm Addict the best pop anthems of punk's heyday. It's no surprise they still stand up today.
With as many good tunes as the Buzzcocks wrote, and with the length of them averaging not more than two minutes (if that), the punters get their money's worth, even though the band play for less than an hour.
As you'd expect it is a predominantly mature male crowd with a smattering of hip young things, looking the part in skin-tight jeans and white-rimmed glasses with red-tinted lenses.
Early on in the set there are a few blank expressions, with lesser known tracks, including some from this year's Flat-Pack Philosophy getting an airing.
But then it's into the classics: Harmony In My Head (with Diggle's raw, gravelly vocals a good contrast to Shelley), Fiction Romance, Why Can't I Touch It?, What Do I Get?, and the frantic, Fast Cars. Yes, people, this is when punk tunes become party tunes and why the band's album Singles Going Steady is essential. Go get it.
The momentum of the scorching Autonomy is spoiled when Diggle's amp gives out but he sings along, and gets us to join in, as the roadies bumble round trying to fix it.
"Get me another one, you [expletive]," he jokes, smiling back at the crowd.
While it's a little rushed, Ever Fallen In Love? is still such a perfect pop song that it could be the bloody Beatles up there on stage.
The encore is eight, maybe even 10 songs long. I stopped counting. There's no Oh Shit, but oh well, they play the delightfully obnoxious Noise Annoys instead. And then Diggle starts bashing up the drum kit with a couple of mic stands. Compared with the cool, calm and collected Shelley, he is a brat. But it's great to see a little of the venom is still there - in their actions, their playing and those songs.
