Blow me! Despite the best efforts of Jamie, we arrive unharmed in Leeds and eventually manage to locate our accommodation for the night. Not a moment too soon either - after our lengthy encounter with the Leeds city centre road system we are in need of a brief respite before hitting the street for our encounter with destiny later that evening. Happily, the city hasn't changed a great deal since a couple of months back when the whole thing was arranged and we manage to locate the Duchess with relatively little hassle and form an orderly queue outside.

The Duchess of York is Leeds' equivalent venue to the Marquee in status, though inside is reminiscent of any London pub venue, with a capacity of about two to three hundred. As we enter, the Acolytes are on stage soundchecking, all looking very serious. Perhaps it's the empty hall, but the sound seems like the best they have ever had and expectations are raised as a consequence. As they roll through a couple of numbers, they are watched by members of Leeds newest cult band, Drug Free America:

"What do you think?"
"Yeah. I like it - meaty."

Eventually, soundcheck over, they finish and mosey on over for a drink and a rap, with talk revolving mostly around Jamie's attempt to discover more about the afterlife whilst driving up the A1. Eventually, every option on this front has been exhausted and we move on to more important issues as I engage the band in some pre-gig banter.

"It's important to make a good first impression, so what are you going to start with?"
"What's the most un-obvious song to start with?" replies Alastair, with a mischievous grin.

Bloody hell! Their going to start with "San Francisco"!!

"San Francisco?"
"Ahahahaha!"

Wow! Guerilla tactic: take on the audience on the band's terms! Oh well, I suppose it'll be interesting...

The time arrives and the group amble on in front of a gathering who, for the most part, affect an air of indifference towards our heroes and remain seated on the floor for the duration of the set.

Sure enough, they open with "Death Train To San Francisco", which ends approximately eight minutes later with polite clapping. The response is - to us Londoners among the audience - slightly puzzling.

The next number is more familiar to some of the assembled and there are murmurings of recognition as the band burst into "Crazy Horses". The inclusion of a song they know moves the crowd to a few hearty cheers at the end. A couple arrive to stand next to Jamie:

"We'll stand here and see what they're like."

The set moves along pretty conventional lines from here with few surprises. "3-0-0-1" follows, with Mike's badly-out-of-tune guitar throwing everything out. The sound is excellent - possibly the best of any of their outings to date. The crowd sits, watches and claps politely - albeit rather mutely - at all the right moments. No one leaves, hardly anyone moves - they sit it out until the end. Well you can't say that their criticisms are going to be rash or ill-considered.

The performance lives up to our expectations and it was worth coming all that way after all. Alongside the now slightly more developed demo tracks ("Trans European Excess" is particularly well executed), we're treated to "Body", "King Of California" and "Newboid's". The set closes with the hot shit trash number "Far Out". It certainly is.

The set ends. So what did the guy standing next to Jamie reckon?

"That was fucking shit."

Oh. And not one dissenting voice was raised through the whole of the set! Will the band ever play to a more courteous audience? Anyway, what of the views of the current inhabitants of the Ladies' loos?

"Trying to be too Gothic - all that smoke..." (quite ironic considering D.F.A.'s entrance later that evening!)

And what was the band's impression of tonight? Mark: "Well, next time Mike'll re-string his guitar a few days before instead of half an hour and we'll probably be okay."

With that, we repair to the bar to observe D.F.A. from a respectful distance. Too Gothic, indeed! Eventually, the time comes for us to retire to our place of rest for the evening while the band contemplate the immediate drive home.

Set: Death Train To San Francisco, Crazy Horses, 3-0-0-1, Newboid's, Get Down To Lovin', Body, Trans European Excess, King Of California, Far Out