Sometimes a show comes along that catches you totally by surprise, leaving you dazed and amazed. This was one of those shows. Brix Smith Start, along with her fellow survivors from The Fall, Steve Hanley (bass) and Paul Hanley (drums), have now joined forces with guitarists Steve Trafford and Jason Brown to create something special. Live, the result is something truly magical. It forms a literal clash of old and new as they balance their latest material with classics from their time on the inside of The Fall’s revolving door of bandmates to Mark E. Smith.

Lucie Barat provided support, playing a similar set to her Libertines slot but this time finding Sticky Mike’s a more natural environment than the vast stage of the Brighton Centre. Spending much of the show either crouching on the floor or leaning over the railings, alongside her band who were comically squeezed onto the famously small stage. She had all the moves of a natural star – as you would expect of someone with her history on screen and as singer with The Au Revoirs. Tunes are still a little bit lacking at this point, with only a couple making their mark, but it’s still early days for this current line-up and there was enough with ‘Take Me Away’ and ‘Be Uprising’ to show that the potential is there for a breakthrough.

Then came the blast-off, as Brix & The Extricated took to the stage. Opening with the ferocious glam rock stomp of ‘Something To Lose’, guitarist Jason Brown fiercely slammed his guitar into the amp with the aggression that you would normally find at the end of a gig. Brix appeared every inch the icon, with painted glitter-tears and hood up, making a blistering start that showed no sign of letting up as they moved into ‘Feeling Numb’. The psychotic country rockabilly riff of ‘2 x 4’ gave us our first chance to hear a re-imagined version of a Fall classic (if you ignore ‘Feeling Numb’, which had already been re-recorded for their album). It was electrifying, with the crowd gathering ever more tightly to the stage, as if feeding off the band’s energy. The audience was noticeably older than the usual midweek gig crowd, but it was apparent from the responses that the years had added devotion and passion rather than diminished them. The longer they played, the more the years rolled away.

As Brix locked eyes with audience members while spitting the lyrics to ‘Pneumatic Violet’, promising that: “I will not be forsaken, there will be no mistaking/You will pay for your actions, no-one gets a retraction” followed by a primal roar from the depths of her soul, the atmosphere was one of powerful intensity. Far from a one-woman band though, ‘U.S. 80’s – 90’s’ demonstrated the full breadth of talent on display. Steve Hanley, described in the past by Mark E. Smith as the man who was most responsible for “The Fall Sound”, was simply breath-taking and provided the foundations that the entire show was built from. While Trafford was more measured in his persona, Brown was a ceaseless dynamo throughout, as the night flowed effortlessly between raw, unfiltered punk and the more bass-driven post-punk. With four guitars powering through a set packed with filthy and furious classics new and old, many in the audience will have felt like their heads had been put through a washing machine cycle.

Nights like this are a privilege to be part of and as a huge beaming grin broke out on Brix’s face towards the end of the show, it was apparent that she had enjoyed it just as much as the gathered faithful. Finishing with the mighty ‘New Big Prinz’, if there was one thing not in doubt it was that (unlike the song’s main character), they were appreciated. The band seemed unwilling to leave the stage afterwards, as if to part too soon was a mistake. Sadly all good things must end but, as Brix & The Extricated showed tonight, sometimes if you’re lucky enough – they come back.

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