The Junction was sparsely populated as City Seventeen took to the stage. Dressed in vintage military jackets and projecting an antique Soviet film, their image was as uncompromising as their music: a tidal swell of distortion shocked into sudden grooves by thunderbursts of drums. When they locked into a tense, up-tempo math-rock surge in their newer songs, they suddenly became more than the sum of their parts and sparkled with a distinct energy, bursting out of The Junction’s impressive sound rig.

The place started to fill up a bit towards nine o’clock. Being a charity gig, there wasn’t your typical rock audience – more parents and children than greebos and stoners – and The Irregulars were well-suited to such a crowd. With sharp suits, pork-pie hats and a saxophone, their ska covers went down well with those old enough to have seen the Specials the first time round. There was ample middle-aged booty being shaken, and even an incident of Per Una knicker-throwing. Despite such distractions, the band was tight and charismatic, and played an exhaustive set of 2-tone and Jamaican ska.

By the time local covers band Sugarbeat came on, the place was packed, and most people were pretty drunk, which undoubtedly worked in their favour. The audience were trying their best, and I guess it isn’t really fair to criticise a charitable concert, but at times it was like watching a school band try to thrash through some cover songs at the end-of-term concert. That said, they were fun to watch, and it seemed to be what people wanted to hear. As the concert came to a close and we spilled out into the clear Cambridge night, the amount of sweat on the audience was testament to their enjoyment, and any money raised for the DEC Haiti appeal can only be a good thing, even if the musical quality of the night was somewhat variable