A quick rundown (literally) of the support acts, then. Cars as Weapons were little more than a dull, half baked Hundred Reasons covers band, while Colour of Fire were interesting for about 2 � songs, until it became clear I was better off checking out colour of bar.

So, onto the headliners � which is strange in itself, since VAST are so far below the radar it�s not funny. If you�re best known over here for having one of your music videos banned, you�d think it would be sparse in front. However, it was anything but: quite clearly, Jon Crosby and his band of merry men have connected with quite a few people, all of whom were out in force for their first gig in the UK since early 2000.

With the theme of their website ushering them on (odd, I know), they open with Turquoise, and the second notable appearance of devotion to the band becomes clear � their Nude album is only available in the UK from their website ($15, plus $15 shipping?!?), yet many people know the song, and the words, off by heart. And I doubt they bought a copy at the T-shirt stall and had it on their Discman on repeat, reading the lyric sheet.

However, the reaction from tracks off the earlier, freely available albums was bigger, as they followed up with Here (without the orchestral intro, unfortunately), and the aforementioned dodgy video song, Pretty When You Cry, which was � pardon the Californism � awesome. So awesome, in fact, whole sections were sung solely by the crowd, in perfect tune and time with the track. However, good reactions followed for a couple of new tracks, Be With Me and a barnstorming Thrown Away, making themselves comfortable within the affections of all and sundry.

However, a strong opening was nearly undone with Don�t Take Your Love Away, which may work on record, but in the live arena just didn�t quite cut it as a softer, mellow track, because the juxtaposition plain didn�t work. Just to underline this, it was followed by another barnstormer, Touched. OK, so putting them after one another may have diminished the two songs, fantastic as they are, but it was a bad choice at the time. In fact, a better choice followed, I�m Dying, with the guitarist taking over on vocal duties, and doing a bloody good job of it to boot.

Things took an upswing from here, with the one-two from Music For People � which didn�t get a very good showing � Last One Alive and their why-oh-why-was-it-not-a-well-deserved-hit-?, Free rounding off the main set with some passion and panache. So much, the whole crowd was chanting for more as soon as the first member left the stage.

Luckily, we did get some more � I Don�t Have Anything bringing the whole crowd together in a mass sing-along, before rounding off with Temptation to good effect. And that�s it, really. An hour of great music that nobody really seems to have heard without doing the unheard of (looking for something, or taking a chance with it � hey, I did in �99). However, there was just that little bit more, as the band were in the World�s End next door signing anyhting you could stick in front of them and chatting with fans queuing up all around, and outside, just for their chance � and they were a thoroughly nice bunch of blokes, too. An end to a satisfying night, which left me, and I�m sure several other people as well, just that little bit more uplifted as they made for the tube home.

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