Give or take a few lamentable session musicians, The Fall have claimed at least 60 members over their 35 year career. The pride of Prestwich and the only consistent member of John Peel’s favourite band, frontman Mark E. Smith once infamously declared that even “if it’s me and your granny on bongos, then it’s [still The] Fall.” Unfortunately, he could not be more wrong. The band that performed in Cambridge was a crushingly disappointing caricature of one of the greatest punk bands England has produced.

Bricolotheque, Cambridge’s very own version of the KLF, opened the show with a respectable set, although perhaps the agitated audience desperately fidgeting for their post-punk fix were not quite ready for their synth-based collages. However, surely no one could have been prepared for The Fall. Nobody was expecting a vocal virtuoso performance from Smith, his chaos and confusion is what made him such a force in the 80s, but tonight he was barely comprehensible. His incoherent howl jarred with his excellent musicians, the drummer was particularly on form, and it takes a wealth of live experience to be able to keep up with Smith’s eccentric take on his back catalogue.

To Smith’s credit, he was not simply trading in on former glories like some of his former punk peers. The set was predominantly made up of recent material from their new album, Ersatz G.B., but it therefore lacked any real hits to sink one’s teeth into. The gig’s highlight, and almost its saviour, was a cover of The Big Bopper’s “White Lightning;” finally here Smith’s vitriol blended with the cacophony his backing band were brewing at the back of the stage.

Towards the end, there was even a brief, blink and you’d miss it, moment of connection between Smith and the crowd; a fanbase that showered Smith, their debonair delinquent idol, with much more goodwill than he earned during their hour and a quarter set. These ardent aficionados were searching for a hit of nostalgia and left mostly disappointed. Some things really were better way back when.