As entrances go, it was hardly grandeur, with the headliner, a Brightonian, strolling through the club to make his way humbly to the stage.

But this typically low-key entrance did not reflect the level of anticipation in the audience. There were plenty of Format's pals in the club, but none of the "I'm friends with the DJ" attitude you might expect.

Breakdancers warmed things up before the turntablist extraordinaire, plus MC sidekicks Abdominal and D-sisive, got going, taking us back to hip-hop's golden years with lashings of B-boy beats, jazz breaks, scratching and funk mash-ups.

The set was slick, with much turntable trickery and lyrical gymnastics from the MCs.

Format is one of the UK hip hop scene's top boys who has remained true to the culture's original ethos.

This night of uplifting party antics summed up what real hip- hop is about.