The remarkably easy journey to Whitby was made by car, arriving around lunchtime on the day of the show. My B&B was just a 2 minute walk from the venue. Sputnik were playing the Whitby pavillion - headlining the Saturday night of the twice yearly Whitby Goth Festival. I was getting extremely excited/nervous, never having seen Sputnik live. Would they be the same as before?, would they be crap?, what would the crowd reaction be like? I headed to the venue early to check out the merchandise and take any purchases back to the B&B before the night began proper. I made short conversation with a guy buying a t shirt before heading back to my B&B.

I headed out to the venue again shortly later. By now the bar area had become full with all manner of wierd, wonderful and surprisingly friendly people. I was feeling quite lonely in the crowded room and was on his second bottle of beer when I felt a tap on the shoulder. It was the guy I had been speaking to earlier. He introduced himself as mATTy and his girlfriend is aNNIe. They told me I could tag along with them for the evening, for which I am still eternally grateful. Needless to say, we've become great friends.

2 bands played before Sputnik, the truly awful Putra Chic ("monkey boy, monkey boy") and VNV Nation - who weren't bad. We were right at the front when SSS took to the stage at 11.30pm.

The crowd surged forward as Sputnik launched into Alien Christ. Neal X firing blasts of wild guitar - better than ever before. Tony still treats the space bass as a weapon, mercilessly pounding the notes that literally shook you to the bone. A mysterious 4th Sputnik hovered in the background sequencing the effects and drums. At the front, still the king of the camp, truly Elvis 2020 is Martin Degville, the ultimate rock n roll superstar.

21st Century Boy followed, then Jayne Mansfield, Everybody Loves U, Atari Baby, Slave Trade, Love Missile (with Sympathy For The Devil sung by Neal). Tony accidentally twatted Martin with the space bass during Love Missile - rock n roll. The group seemed taken back by the well enthusiastic response and left the stage to thunderous applause and demands for more - eventually rewarded when the band returned with Rockit Miss USA and Zero Zero.

Each song was performed flawlessly, although the band did seem to hold something back - there was not much interaction with the crowd. I left shortly after the set, not being able to believe what I had just seen and loud, I couldn't hear properly the next day. mATTy and aNNIe agreed to stay in touch and meet up at the Sheffield gig. He informed me that shortly after I left the band appeared for photo's and autographs. I was mightly pissed off....however, my time was to come!

TAKEN FROM THE STAGE, MARTIN WAS FORGETTING LYRICS EVEN THEN