It was somehow fitting that the track Something Better Change ringing through the Dome was what shifted the audience to a new level of energy and appreciation. It was just a shame it was during the encore.

Diehard Stranglers fans would surely have been split into two camps: those who believed their idols on stage were giving it their all – 40 years down the line – and those who expected a bit more from what could have been, at times, a tribute band with some of the passion but not all the verve of old.

Baz Warne and founder members Jean-Jacques Burnel on bass and Dave Greenfield on key-boards gave it their all, but it was a shame 74-year-old drummer Jet Black was too ill to play. He was ably replaced by Jim McCauley, but that will have disappointed many fans.

All the old favourites were there, delivered with panache to an appreciative audience, but any 40th anniversary tour is always going to be a balance between what the fans want to hear and what the band wants to play.

They managed to pull it off, but when a decent mosh pit finally formed late in the gig it felt like too little, too late.

A decent light show would have elevated the show further. (“I’ve seen more expensive rigs in a pub in Rhyl” muttered the guy behind me.)

That said, old favourite Golden Brown sounded as gorgeous as ever, No More Heroes ever more relevant, and energetic renditions of Peaches, Skin Deep and Hanging Around meant the majority of fans left with a spring in their step.

There’s life in the old dogs yet.