Yak! I missed their last performance at the Fulham Greyhound so this is the first I've seen of them since the tumultuous evening of their hometown triumph at St. Margs. Any hope of them equalling that show seems slightly misplaced - there's not so much of a sense of occasion (or as many people) as that evening.

Nonetheless, the band are determined to put on a decent show, which they manage, thanks to a good sound and masses of the usual smoke and bubbles.

The crowd isn't quite up to usual level as most of the Theydon wing of the operation have all gone off to Switzerland for a week or so. The somewhat depleted ranks of followers are swollen slightly by some familiar faces from Chigwell, taking a first curious peek at our heroes after recent exposure in the West Essex Gazette.

Confusion reigns: no intro tape, is the band's recording switched on? etc? Out of this mayhem comes "Trans European Excess". The sound of each venue so far experienced has been better than the last and tonight is no exception. They follow with a superb version of "Meet Me..." then "3-0-0-1" - three of their hottest tracks combine in sequence to lift the band to a plateau from which they never fall all evening.

Alongside the other familiar tracks is a new song, "New". Now if I can just move in and get a decent shot of Alastair's fretb- Bonk! Well, thanks a lot, chum. (He later claims that he was merely attempting to remove my hat.) "New" is a low-key, shambling-rhythm-section job which is the cue for a particularly unimaginitive bit of guitar soloing from Alastair. Fortunately they save themselves by moving straight into "King Of California" without even pausing for breath.

A blistering "Get Down..." is the cue for some rather more imaginative guitar and goes down particularly well. "Crazy Horses" is powerful, but Mike definitely misses his trem - and the bottleneck is a very poor substitute.

The bubbles have made the floor rather slippery and - Argh! Whoops! Whoah! Three attempts to get up again leave me spreadeagled in the midst of the mess in a rather comical, Chaplin-style slapstick manner. Most humourous, I am assured by the surrounding multitude.

The slow, resonating bass-snare intro of "San Francisco" announces the end of the set, which lowers the atmosphere slightly. Nonetheless, it is an excellent rendition, perhaps vindicating Rob Del Pino's later declaration that tonight is their best gig ever.

'More!' come the shouts and no sooner said than done! The band return for the first ever performance of "Far Out" (240-odd beats per minute or something, isn't it Phil?) - quite obviously a reply to the shouts of 'faster!' heard at recent performances.

Humping the gear out to the van afterwards, Andy makes sure that the band just break even on the evening by catching the van door just as the breeze blows it towards the sound engineer's reversing Trans-Am. "Well, you saved us some money there, Andy," remarks Mike.

Set: Trans European Excess, Meet Me (In A Godforsaken Place), 3-0-0-1, Newboid's, New, King Of California, Get Down To Lovin', Crazy Horses, Body, Death Train To San Francisco, Far Out