HIGH energy from start to finish as the sex kitten from our collective youth strutted about the stage defying her birth certificate and dancing in the only way she can't. Well, c'mon!

It did appear that her mike was turned down a bit as we couldn't make out a word she was saying between songs and when the audience joined in, Debbie was sometimes drowned out.

The hits came like a machine gun: Call Me, Atomic, Hangin' On The Telephone you name it, we got it.

There was hardly time for breath as seemingly no sooner had one song finished that drummer Clem Burke was pounding out the beat for the next.

Clem deserves special mention as I have never seen such a frenetic display of drumcraft.

Every toss of his sticks in the air was greeted with a roar of approval and he never missed a catch.

Debbie's voice has never been better, it was sultry, powerful and coquettish when necessary and the high notes in Maria' were no problem.

Chris Stein looked brooding as his mastery of the guitar was evident and the whole package was slick and above all - loud!

The encores of Please Please Me (a strange choice, I'd've expected it if we were in Liverpool, but Manchester??), Denis and of course Heart of Glass were rapturously received and the band took their leave of the stage, leaving the audience - of mixed age - satisfied and pogo-ed out.