LET'S face it, if Mick Jones announced his intention to tour the supermarkets of Scunthorpe playing covers of gameshow theme tunes with Steps as his backing band, every show would still sell out, and every show would still be an event his fans would brag about witnessing for years to come.

Once you've founded a band as ridiculously important and influential as The Clash, you can do pretty much anything you fancy, and the diehards will still come along for the ride.

Under the circumstances then, it seems somewhat lucky that last night Jones showed little desire to subject his followers to a self-indulgent flippancy, instead choosing to team up with former Generation X (and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, but we'll gloss over that) bassist Tony James in an attempt to remind the latest generation of music fans that as well as being a Libertines producer, he's not bad on the old guitar.

He is, admittedly, pretty bad at singing, but his weedy voice was drowned out by the boisterous arrangements, which recalled the righteous rowdiness of Give 'Em Enough Rope, with hints of Big Audio Dynamite-style punk-funk.

There were concessions to the modern age - though sampling The Who is hardly cutting-edge - but this was mainly good-time rock 'n' roll played by men who clearly enjoyed every minute, and who have earned the right to be up on stage.

Not a band to change the world then, but twice in a lifetime is a lot to ask of any man.

Updated: 09:27 Tuesday, May 24, 2005