By RUSSELL BAILLIE
As we waited, it seemed everyone had a Datsuns story. Usually it involved having seen them play a gig in the days when the band-to-audience ratio hovered around the 1:1 mark. Or when they supported someone bigger and uglier back in the days when they were called Trinket.
But
would you look at the artists formerly known as an ornament now. They're officially "Big-in-Britain", which will undoubtedly lead them to be big in several other places - such as Auckland.
Yep, the Datsuns' bandwagon has many more horses under its hood than the last time it roared into town a few months ago.
It's not often you can see a band demolishing the Beeb's Top of the Pops and then go to see them in the flesh a few hours later.
And as the clock ticked towards midnight inside the Regent with its eerily appropriate 70s decor, finally here they were.
An hour and a bit later they encored with Cheap Trick's Goodnight Now.
And in between? Something quite remarkable - a funny, thrilling, brilliant celebration of a thousand rock cliches.
Good thing they've got songs, really.
Otherwise, all the pouting (a speciality of wild-eyed singer-bassist Dolf de Datsun), posing (the classic foot upon monitor), PA-stack-climbing and playing of Gibson guitars at spine-endangering angles could be only so much fun.
But along with the gonzo attitude, the Datsuns showed they've got dynamics, tunes and some big, dumb-but-funny hooks.
Among the better examples of that included the hot-rod boogie of MF to Hell, the glam 'n' groovy Harmonic Generator, and raucous single In Love - "with his guitar or his car?" quipped my mate about Dolf's screamed declaration of infatuation .
By the time they cranked up that Cheap Trick number, the Datsuns had proved just how much they deserve to have "conquering rock hero" stamped in their passports.
And we who saw 'em on this night will have our own Datsuns story: the night we saw them before (a) the world domination, (b) the backlash, (c) the double concept album with the four recording a side each, (d) all of the above.
It will be a cherished memory.
