The Brighton Centre was buzzing with a big welcome after an almost seamless switch of venue due to technical problems at Brighton Dome.

To roars of approval, Andy Bell hit the stage wearing a sparkling top hat and tails and gyrated his way through a succession of classic hits as well as less familiar tunes from new album The Violet Flame.

The singer, with a voice that can knock the pants off most vocalists, went on to sport a pair of skimpy hot pants himself. From a distance, the legs looked to be still in fine form - although I was expecting a feather boa or two and a few more frivolous costume antics.

With Vince Clarke’s electronics pounding out the beats from the back of the stage (any further back and he would have been off-stage) the crowd responded to hits such as Stop!, A Little Respect, Blue Savannah and Oh L’amour – all easy on the ear and equally easy to bop along to; also, surprisingly uplifting and full of light.

We have had our fair share of recession, austerity and social division – both recently and back in the day. But it was partly down to outrageous performers such as Andy Bell that the late 1980s and early 1990s wasn’t such a selfish, dark and miserable time after all.