Guitarist Adam has to sit down for the entire concert because he’s injured his wrist.

I’m not sure I follow the logic. But then, the Bluetones never felt bound by anyone else’s logic, as shown in the fact these once chart toppers are now touring the country’s smallest venues in the country’s smallest towns – places more used to hosting battle of the bands nights and Stone Roses tribute bands. Erm…

Hence their visit tonight to the Citadel Arts Centre hidden away down a back street in provincial backwater St Helens.So anyway - singer Mark Morriss waves to the crowd, shimmies to their hits and makes jokes about their singles not charting. It’s like 1995 all over again.

But there’s no enthusiasm there any more; no joie de vivre to them these days; no sense that every minute is more urgent than the last and no wish to seize a day long since gone.The early songs get the biggest cheers, of course. The hits still sound, as Morriss says, as fresh as a daisy.

But the rest are greeted with polite applause and stifled yawns. “This is a song from a couple of years ago,” we are told at one point. “It was a flop.” And with good reason too – no tune to speak of and lyrics no deeper than a paddling pool. Bands evolve with time.

With every new album, they reveal a little more of themselves, a little more that wasn’t on offer before. They need to to stay relevant. But the Bluetones revel in doing precisely the opposite. The anthemic tour de force Bluetonic lays out their manifesto – “a little charm and a lot of style”.

But it’s all outdated style and too little substance. While the rest of the world has moved on, to The Bluetones it’s still 1995 and they can still sing “only a fool won’t take the chance to stay the same” with a straight face, completely oblivious to dwindling interest and wasted potential.

Oh well. Bluetones – you were great once. But evolve or die. One way or another, it’s time to move on.

Patrick Hurley