Its heyday is long gone, unemployment is rife and there’s a real drink and drugs problem. Ordinarily this would be a bad thing, but not when you can identify with a band’s music like the crowd did that night.

I’d arrived early to stake out a good spot in which to skank (a style of dancing to those of you who aren’t ska fans) and the place quickly started to fill up with braces, Doc Martens and a lack of hair. Not long before nine the lights dimmed and the stage was graced with the presence of Pama International, the support band. Oddly for a support act though, the line-up included a member of the main act, Lynval Golding, The Specials’ rhythm guitarist. Their performance was one of the most innovative examples of reggae music I’ve heard, mainly traditional ska and reggae themes being led by a distinctly dub flavour, and it warmed the crowd up a treat. I’ve never seen a crowd start stomping the floor after the support. Maybe people were just practising, but I doubt it.

Not long afterwards The Specials walked out and dove headlong into a series of classics including ‘Too Much Too Young’, ‘Nite Klub’, ‘Long Shot’ and ‘Gangsters and Guns of Navarone’. The band clearly loving every minute, as were the crowd. It goes without saying that there was a definite energy in the room; virtually every member of the audience descended into a sweaty, ska-fuelled dancing frenzy. There was no resting on laurels from the band either, no long waxing poetic about the band’s history or the impact the music has had on their lives, they simply went from hit to hit, all with an enthusiasm that was infectious. All that is, except Terry Hall.

Terry, the lead singer, remaining relatively still and expressionless while the rest of the band larked around him. Initially this was intriguing - having not seen the band before I was open to anything. After a while though, rather than getting into the swing of things, Hall’s demeanour became more and more sour, his posture reminded me more of an anaesthetised ape than that of a frontman, and you just got the impression that he didn’t want to be there.