BLACKBURN's Three Men Gone Mad are back, back, back, after making a triumphant return to the live circuit. Airing their material for the first time in nearly a decade, the trio of Jason Wood better known as Woody, Duncan Mitchell and Stuart Caswell have returned to prove point.

Their last gig was at Manchester's PJ Bell's some nine years ago but there were no hangovers or ill effects from that extended break from the scene.

More importantly their music has stood the test of time, without which the exercise would have been little more than a polite stroll down memory lane.

Nearly 150 fans packed into the North Bar and cheered on encouragement as Woody opened proceedings with U-turn.

From then on the trio marched confidently through the baggy influenced material which draws from bands as diverse as New Order, The Clash and Happy Mondays.

Speaking after the show a delighted Woody revealed that the show had surpassed even their own expectations.

He said: "We're still buzzing about the whole night and the way the audience reacted so positively to the music."

But after the way they tore through the punk infused Luxury and then climbed to high point of the show with the experimental and raucous Malestrong it's not hard to understand the bands enthusiasm.

Surprisingly the lads closed the forty minute show with the chilled out reggae vibes of Monkey, which wasn't the high tempo, big finish expected. And despite the crowd calling for more there was to be no encore only the promise of more gigs in the not to distant future. CLIVE LAWRENCE