The 60s touchstones were all there – the butterfly, flowers and CND badge-strewn logo, fake star names adorning the staircase and as many Beatles references as you can throw a Paisley cravat at; it could only mean one thing: Churchill’s free lovin’, mods-vs-rockerin’, hip swingin’ Spring Ball.

The theme suited the college to a tee - hailing from 1968 itself, it was the perfect setting for dishing out bangers and mash and hosting a makeshift sweet shop. The College’s rooms forgot their Cambridge roots for the night, re-christened with titles a little more groovy, so you could experience The Ellafunks’ groove on ‘Carnaby Street’, acoustic troubadours on ‘Woodstock’ and singalongs round the ol’ Joanna in ‘The Cavern’.

The first acts taking to the stages ploughed the singer-songwriter furrow nicely, with Olly West’s impressive Shakira impersonation garnering a good reception, as did some neat ‘acoustic mixing’ on his mash-up of ‘Digital Love’ and ‘Ready For The Floor’. Things got a little more raucous when Rosie Corner, Varsity Food Critic and erstwhile rock goddess, closed her set with a version of Iron Butterfly’s ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda’, complete with some amp-trashing from her bass player. The Who would be proud. Cambridge’s rent-a-swoon all stars Blueprint, in spite of some horrendous harmonies and questionable timing, lifted the roof off the main hall, while Sadie Smith’s gentle piano tinklings accompanied some laid back munching of pork scratchings in The Cavern.

Playing to a crowd fuelled by chocolate fountain and Bailey’s milkshake goodness, The Rumble Strips’ trumpet-flavoured brand of jauntiness went down well with the revellers, despite being a little passé, and was far surpassed by Jaguar Skills’ ferocious song-hopping turn on the decks. The true musical highlight of the night, though, had to be a genuinely brilliant set from Andre the Giant (Deceased). Obscure of name, yet heavy of beat, Andre’s sounds came straight out of leftfield, a suitably psychedelic end to the evening’s proceedings.

Perhaps the best thing about the night, though, was the atmosphere. The work-intensive rigmarole of Lent Term makes a ball halfway through a perfect antidote, and whether you were a hardcore silent disco nut or a chilled Woodstock-goer, the ball catered for everything. What more to say? To coin a phrase, it’d been a hard day’s night, but Churchill, the things you did, they made us feel alright.