Academy, Sheffield
Adam and the Ants were one of the biggest pop phenomena of the 1980s, although their former leader has long battled mental problems which, in 2010, saw him briefly sectioned. This unexpected comeback tour is a hot ticket, and there's a huge turnout.
Clad in full pirate regalia, the now bespectacled 56-year-old looks like a cross between the dandy highwayman of 1981 and Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow: there are gasps of delight – and perhaps disbelief – as Ant makes his entrance. His superb new, two-drummer band – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Posse – lash out the Burundi beat of Dog Eat Dog and Kings of the Wild Frontier, and, with different generations of "Ant people" singing the choruses, it is as if he's never been away.
Ant still has the moves. However, this near two-hour voyage through his back catalogue delves beyond the hits. From his edgy, leftfield punk days, Zerox, Car Trouble and the rest sound icy, sensual and dangerous. This entertaining, fun show has everything: sex (he playfully removes a backing singer's top and hands it back, quipping, "Phew, I don't need that at my age"), surreal banter ("Hello, I'm Bryan Ferry") and controversy (Bob Geldof is "a twat").
Admitting that the Ants' split "broke my heart", he sounds like a man making up for lost time. "Ooh, look, another No 1," he grins before Stand and Deliver and, for Physical, tears off his clothes (apart from the hat). If an apparently finished album is anything like as good, Prince Charming's could be one of the great pop comebacks.