You’d be forgiven for not realising Ash have been around for more than 15 years now. The energy of this performance was so strong, they looked like a band trying to create a fierce impression as they made their first steps on the road to fame and fortune, not one who have already been there and done it and are now happily touring their greatest hits album.

But then Ash did find fame prodigiously young, so perhaps by rights they should retain the energy and impact which has now ebbed away from many of their contemporaries. Their perpetually fresh faces don’t harm the effect.

From the moment their arrival on stage was heralded by the familiar screeching sounds of Star Wars’ tie-fighters, the intro to their 1996 hit Goldfinger, we were taken on a nostalgic ride back to the days when the Northern Irish trio formed an essential part of every ’90s teenage soundtrack.

The atmospheric, stripped-back arches of Coalition made an intimate setting as they powered through a hit-strewn set, drawing heavily on their big hit debut album 1977 as well as Nu-Clear Sounds, Free All Angels and 2009’s A To Z. And perhaps the biggest sign of how good their later material has remained was the ease with which songs like Dionysian Urge, Arcadia and Return Of White Rabbit sat alongside the standout classics of Kung Fu, Girl From Mars and Life Less Ordinary. The venues are smaller these days, but Ash have definitely still got it.