So here we all are again (am I boring you? Any more than usual, I mean?) on the tour that has no... hotel rooms? Press conferences? Encores?? Guest lists??? Gigs in the same week????

The whole guest list thing has got to be a bit of a joke, so tonight we don't even bother asking - we're just thankful to have the quid-entrance fee 'Band Invitation' cards.

News upon our entrance is that the headline band, Joe Pinko, have failed to show up, so it's just The Acolytes plus Glass Radio. The latter have quite an array of fans in attendance, but they only just outnumber us - the other third (usual Acolytes-fan-type hopeful over-estimate of our presence) of the assemblage being comprised of regulars. A headline at the Pied Bull! So how long will they play? An hour? Will they do "Meet Me..."?

The other major revelation I stumble across as I defy the implications of 'hanger-on' and 'groupie' (!?!) by going across and talking to the band is that tonight we were on the guest list. Well, I wasn't:

"Sorry, Flare - we put Jamie down twice."

Well, jolly good job we didn't ask then, as far as I can see.

Thumpity-bump, wail, graunch: The strident, anthemic "Ethnic" starts the set once more - this is becoming a habit, boys - confidence is high and the band look to be on form again.

The smoke is thick tonight and the set is sharp. Kev's working the drum machine so there's one less thing for the band themselves to worry about. As a result, the set gels well with the embarrassing pauses totally eradicated. The sound is above average, though not quite as clear as the Sir George Robey. Still, when you stand in the middle of the dancefloor you can hear Charles' stereo cymbals and toms. Smart stuff!

All the most familiar songs receive an airing, but it's now nearly four months since we last heard "Meet Me (In A Godforsaken Place)" back at The Royal Standard - sigh - so maybe that particular part of their repertoire is dead and buried.

A glance around shows that the less partisan members of the onlooking assemblage are playing it cool and not reacting too openly to the Acolytes.

As at the Robey a couple of weeks previously, "Far Out" is just too trashy (and too long!) to end the set and is really encore material. Whether, with the song unplayed, this was the plan at Centrepoint or Alastair was just too inebriated to finish the set is not a particularly pressing bone of contention.

To sum up then, another good performance, but they must be wondering exactly what they have to do to excite people.

Set: Ethnic, Newie (LFDY), Trans European Excess, Newboid's, Get Down To Lovin', 3-0-0-1, King Of California, Crazy Horses, Far Out