The last time I saw World Party was way back in the 1980s, at the Town & Country Club in Kentish Town. They were damn good then, and tonight at the O2 Oxford they were equally as damn good.

First, though, support act Gemma Hayes charmed the socks off the audience with her stunning, beautiful voice and strong songs. A wickedly funny anecdote about X Factor muppet Louis Walsh was followed by a goose bump-inducing cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Cloudbursting’. I am now officially a fan! So much so, in fact, that a trip to the good people at Truck Store to purchase Gemma’s CD Let It Break is on my to-do list.

World Party has been Karl Wallinger’s project since 1986, and his managing to keep going all this time is in no small part due to the fact that Robbie Williams covered ‘She’s The One’ and got a world wide smash out of it.

Karl strolled out onto the stage to an expectant and enthusiastic audience and proceeded to remind us all what a great songwriter he is. Looking in pretty good shape, in strong voice, and still managing to reach most – but not all of – those falsetto notes, Karl and his band proceeded to burn through musical styles without apology. The usual strong overtones of Dylan, The Beatles, the Stones and Prince were very much in evidence, but always with Karl’s unique and brilliant way with a melody. There was not a dull moment or a lull in the band’s set, and the band were totally on point – with a special mention to the excellent violin/fiddle player.

I attended this gig partly out of a mixture of nostalgia and curiosity, and both were richly rewarded. I had forgotten how many great songs the man has written: highlights were ‘How Could It Come To This’, ‘Way Down Now’, ‘Sweet Soul Dream’, ‘Message In A Box’, ‘She’s The One’… in fact every single song the band performed tonight was brilliant which, along with Wallinger’s slightly eccentric humour and the obvious enjoyment of the band, made for a damn fine shindig.

With the feel-good vibes from tonight’s gig still in evidence, I got home and immediately proceeded to burn all my World Party CDs onto my laptop to transfer to my iPod. At the O2 tonight I was reminded that World Party have still got it, are still relevant, and can still kick it!