When the contents of Château Mac Uaid are eventually sold off at Sotheby’s it’s pretty certain that all the old vinyl will fetch a fair sum. The originals of Bingo-Master’s Break-Out!, Live at the Witch Trials, Rowche Rumble, How I Wrote Elastic Man and much more besides will all be up for grabs. Then there’s a big gap and The Fall don’t reappear in the collection until about four years ago with things like Imperial Wax Solvent and Heads Will Roll. Their recent output is as strong as their early stuff and there are not many bands you can say that about. Fifty Year Old Man and I’ve Been Duped proved that tonight.

The last time I saw them live was just before coronation of Charlemagne and I didn’t enjoy it to the extent that I went for a long time without wanting to see them again. That was a silly mistake. They are not a band you go to see for the frontman’s bonhomie. Mark E Smith’s only non singing interaction with the audience may have been a grunted “hello” but that’s open to question. He made no reference to the fact that he was performing in a wheelchair and seemed to be in real discomfort on the few occasions when he stood up.

Rather counter-intuitively for a lead singer he spent a big chunk of his time on stage crouching behind the guitarist’s amp. For about the last twenty minutes of the set he was offstage completely. He did carry on singing and periodically sent a roadie out to adjust band members’ instruments. Given that at least the first ten minutes of the show consisted of a video montage of an orchestra conductor, Culture Club, Elvis Presley and Barbara Streisand anyone coming to pay homage to the man – and there were some – would have been let down.

And yet. And yet. They were terrific. The audience was much younger than I would have anticipated with quite a few of them pogoing through the entire set. There was even a little nod to the fact that there were people who had paid to come and see the band when a punter was given the microphone for the final number Telephone Thing.

Leaving to Hank Williams’ I Saw the Light I realised I had. If Merkel, Obama and Sarkozy had really wanted to see a bit of the true glory of England they should have skipped dinner with Elizabeth Windsor and gone to Camden instead.

Thanks to Brad for the video and this link to a site where you can download the set