All too often a trip to the nearest mid to large level music venue is accompanied by conflicting senses of both excitement and dread: will the band be any good live? Will they want to be there or just going through the rock-star motions with weary determination? Will there be a decent song selection? All potential problems which could ruin your night out, shatter your perception of a previously liked band, and force you to rue spending the precious money on a ticket in the first place. Thankfully I’ve never had such problems with ska legends Reel Big Fish.

Back in 2002 my brother got hold of the recently released best of Favourite Noise and, shortly after, Cheer Up. It was fun, it was sarcastic and above all it was memorable, with vocal harmonies and the overtly happy ska and reggae belying a sharp cynical streak.  Over the past eight since then years I’ve seen RBF seven times and they’ve never left me disappointed, and happily this year’s gig carried on that tradition of quality.

Bounding onstage to the strains of the Superman theme tune, the ‘fish begin proceedings with a storming rendition of their original breakthrough hit Sell Out, ensuring that the whole room is bouncing from the word go. As this is a tour without an album to promote, Newcastle Academy is treated to a set-list which segues between faithful crowd pleasers such as Everything Sucks, Where Have You Been, Trendy and The Set Up and a handful of rarer songs to prevent predictability. Of the latter group, a cover of Brown Eyed Girl, the lesser known first album classic Snoop Dog Baby and Hate You (a song that predates the bands first major release) receive the most rapturous applause and send the crowd into a frenzy of skanking (with Hate You also sending me crashing arse-first to the floor and into the legs of another unsuspecting fan). At Reel Big Fish's gigs you either dance or die.

All are performed with practiced ease and an energetic sense of fun which is impressive for a band who spend around ten months of every year on the road, and it’s a testament that even with a minimum of commercial success in the U.K they still manage to pack out the main hall’s of Academy’s and similar venues across the country through the strength of their live shows and word of mouth. If anything though the crowd seem too eager for ‘Fish to get on with it, not entirely embracing the banter and antics that have long been a staple of the RBF experience. Not that it matters much though because as soon as a new song begins the horn lines are sung back at the band and bizarre spectacles such as a guest guitarist in nothing but a posing pouch and wig or a scarily brilliant rendition of Metallica's Enter Sandman are received with insane grinning.

By the time the show draws to a close with the customary cover of A-Ha’s Take on me (followed by an encore of six different versions of S.R and perhaps the most anticipated song of all, Beer) the sweaty crowd begins spilling onto the street outside, a mass of big silly grins and tired legs. And do you know what the best thing is? We get to do it all again next year.