Review: The Lightning Seeds kick off their UK tour in Cambridge

Support at tonight’s gig at the Junction’s J1 - the first in a month-long UK tour - came from Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough) who, like Ian Broudie and his band the Lightning Seeds, first rose to prominence in the 90s.

Gough, wearing his trademark beanie, turned out to be an excellent choice for opening act as he ran through some of his best-known tunes, including Something to Talk About and the beautiful, piano-led Silent Sigh, both of which came from the soundtrack to the memorable Hugh Grant film About a Boy.

The audience roared their approval and the musician responded in kind, saying: “You’re one of the best crowds I’ve ever played to.” Then it was time for the main event. Ian Broudie and his four-piece band came out on stage to an enthusiastic reception, beginning their set with Sunshine, the upbeat opening track on their latest album See You in the Stars, which was released earlier this month.

The frontman announced that we could expect to hear old and new songs, but thankfully the set list lent more towards the former, the ever-catchy Ready or Not following Sunshine and delighting the fans who had turned out in force to witness the return of these Britpop heavyweights. It didn’t say anywhere that the gig was sold out but it certainly felt like it.

Tunes from Jolification, arguably the band’s most enduringly popular album to date, made up the bulk of tonight’s show with two highlights early on being Lucky You (perhaps my favourite Lightning Seeds track) and Perfect. Both sounded amazing. Ian also added in a great guitar solo into Lucky You, reminding everyone that he’s more than just a gifted master of melody.

Great to Be Alive was another new song - with a positive message - that went down quite well, while the groovy You Showed Me just had to be danced to. Losing You and Emily Smiles - the latter co-written with Terry Hall of The Specials - off the new record were played one after the other. “That was painless,” joked Ian afterwards, suggesting that he was well aware that most people had come to hear the classics.

And there were more classics to come: an outstanding ‘triple whammy’, in fact, of Sugar Coated Iceberg, The Life of Riley and Pure (what a song that is!) which rounded off the evening in style, before Ian brought the band back out for a two-song encore.

The first song of the encore was Marvellous, which I had kind of expected, but I wasn’t expecting to hear timeless football anthem Three Lions. Still, as Ian reminded us, the World Cup is only three weeks away. Needless to say, the singing on it almost lifted the roof, and some people who had been relatively quiet up until that point suddenly found themselves caught up in the hysteria.

If the Lightning Seeds’ tour comes your way over the next month, and you remember them with fondness - or if you’re interested in hearing what their new material sounds like - go out and catch them live. You won’t be disappointed.

[Read more: Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds: ‘I never really envisioned myself as the singer’]

For more information, and to check on tour dates, go to lightningseeds.co.uk.