One phrase popped into my head whilst watching The Mission tonight and that was, "Form is temporary, Class is permanent" because that just about sums up seeing The Mission performing with three of the original line up in tow, in what turned out to be a very busy Monday night at the Academy.

It's almost twenty five years since the last time I saw them play the very same venue only last time they were big news and headlining the much bigger ice rink up stairs, well when compared to the now 10 years old 02 Academy anyway. At £10 a ticket this just had to be a win/win considering this line up of The Mission contains the original front three together on stage for the first time in almost two decades. To be fair they were still looking pretty good considering their excesses they experienced throughout much of the 80's.  Something that eventually caught up with them and tore apart the original line up in a very public manner whilst crisscrossing America on a never ending tour, media, recording, tour, media, recording cycle. Today's Mission are much older and it would seem wiser than the same motley crew who straddled the globe with consummate ease winning over live audiences with their rock 'n' roll circus.  Minus the long hair, nail polish (regulation black), purple shirt and hat Wayne Hussey looks fit and healthy and still sounds exactly the same as he did back in his Blue Nun narcotic haze that was much of the 80's/early 90's. He might not look the same but as soon as he begins to sing it's unmistakable.  Simon Hinkler looks and sounds as he did in his pomp (albeit with a little more timber) and Craig Adams is as solid as he ever was, as always understanding what being a bass player is all about by wielding his four string around and hammering out the simple yet oh so effective bass lines that make up much of The Mission back catalogue.

Tonight though was all about celebrating being here 25 years after it all began and for a moment when I closed my eyes it sounded like they'd never been away. This was going to be something special with a set list featuring nothing but the cream of the crop from an era when the band managed to get cover action on just about every music magazine there was from Sounds to Smash Hits and Kerrang to Cream, The Mission were the real deal. The 'Best of' set began majestically is somewhat solemnly with the building swagger of 'Beyond The Pale' which sounded tight, fresh and bloody magnificent! That quickly made way for the song that really kicked things off.... the seedy and drug referencing 'Serpents Kiss' which thundered through the audience like the sound of a band who'd been playing for the past 25 years and had about 200 gigs a year under their belts. "Ash on the carpet and dust on the mirror" indeed. 

Frontman Hussey had proclaimed that the evenings proceedings were all about bashing out the popular hits from that first 12" of 'Serpents Kiss' through 'Gods Own Medicine' and the Zepp-esque romp of 'Children' through to their chart bothering 'Carved In Sand'/'Grains Of Sand' finale (well the finale for the original line up anyway). With little time for banter it was on with the show as the band piled into 'Over The Hills' before getting a little darker with the haunting 'Naked And Savage'. Between the best of songs Hussey took some slurps from that never far away bottle of wine at his feet as we swayed from 'Severina' to the hypnotic swirl of 'Butterfly On A Wheel'. Hussey declaring that his mother was in attendance (she was, she was stood right by me) and he'd promised to not use bad language moments before dropping a "C" bomb in true rock 'n' roll fashion. Hussey certainly seemed to be enjoying himself as the audience got right into it and some in attendance truly got lost in the moment as the old familiar standing on shoulders 'Eskimos' turned the clocks right back (no doubt this is something many will regret come the morning).

Before ending the main set with a rabble rousing 'Deliverance' we floated through 'Wake RSV' and into a blinding version of 'Wasteland' that almost slayed the audience and further proved my point that a class band knocking out a class song will always be um.... well class! Tonight was certainly very special but not in a corny "ahhh remember the 80's" sort of way, simply seeing The Mission doing what they do best and still delivering the goods was definitely the right thing to do on a cold and blustery Autumn night.  Whether it'll be repeated outside of these quarter of a century anniversary shows currently running their way across Europe and prove to be the start of another chapter for the band, well only three people know the answer to that, but surely tonight they must have felt just how good a performance this was. Whatever trend or fashions come and go songs like 'Tower Of Strength', 'Deliverance' and 'Blood Brother' still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

For a final bow the returning band knocked out four tunes that ended in a snorting version of '1969' before they finally called it a night and exited stage left. So next year he's gonna be 21! Oh, no 53! But who gives a fuck because tonight it felt like being 21 again but this time we had a lot of fun. Bristol was well and truly delivered brothers and sisters so let's hope we can do this all again some time soon because tonight was all killer and not a moment of filler, and as I said, class is permanent.