The Bristol Docks seem deserted and it's pissing down and I think I might be going down with the plague, hopped up on anti-biotics… what better night to join a knowing few and take in the Luke Haines Power Trio plugging latest masterpiece 21st Century Man?

Haines and the two young whippersnappers that are the rhythm section don't mess around, building from the surprisingly chipper 'Suburban Morning' to the Auteurs' classic 'Showgirl.' The mid-song banter is as funny as Haines' recent autobiography Bad Vibes - he gives stand-up comedians a bad name..

Manic glam punk rock appears in the form of 'Peter Hamill', which is easily the most Haines has rocked since his collaboration with Steve Albini at the height of Britpop that was After Murder Park (from which we got 'Dead Sea Navigators', which seemed apt on a boat in a storm and 'Unsolved Child Murder', the first of two failed Xmas-singles Haines has been associated with).

The epic '21st Century Man' was preceded by some Billy Joel-themed punchlines and even punctuated by some authentic 80's slap-bass when the lyrics called for it - there's even a lyric that could be a tag-line for a Bad Vibes-movie: “Yeah, I was all over the 1990's/Yeah, I was all over in the 1990's….”

As in Bad Vibes, Haines makes a case that the follow-up to the acclaimed New Wave, the decidedly unsung Now I'm a Cowboy is actually a bit of a classic - the duo of 'Upper Classes' (Haines' 'Idiot Wind' and 'The NWRA') and 'Underground Movies' with the killer hook “I'm calling from the Baltimore Hotel….” join the closing 'Lenny Valentino' in a mini-suite of Cowboy-material.

A bit of a shame there wasn't time for more new material - 'Love Letter to London', 'Wot a Rotter' (which might need twin drummers?), 'English Southern Man' - or something from How I Learned to Love the Bootboys or The Oliver Twist Manifesto, but it's understandable given the mighty Haines' back-catalogue. 'Klaus Kinski' from the latest certainly stood out and thematically made sense following 'Bad Reputation', where Haines wonders if Gary Glitter gave the Glitter Band a bad name?

The set closed with a bunch of chestnuts - 'Leeds United' (which manages to fuse the world of Saturday TV Wrestling with the Yorkshire Ripper via David Peace), the hilarious 'Freddie Mills is Dead' (which is halted when a stalker-fan gets a bit carried away in the balcony above) and following an almost metal conclusion to 'Freddie...' a farewell in the form of the title track from the timeless baader meinhof LP released at the height of Oasis.

There's even time for a cheery encore of 'Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop' and 'Lenny Valentino' prior to the indie-disco pissfest that no doubt ensued shortly after. An absolute legend…As a final note, it was still pissing down outside and I was pissed again and I noted ruefully that 'What Happens When We Die' hadn't been played - Off my rocker down the indie-club docks..