ORCHESTRAL Manoeuvres in the Dark have not played Guildford for some time. And after the best purveyors of memorable Merseyside-made pop tunes since Lennon and McCartney had spent 100-odd minutes belting out a mixture of their best and most recent material, lead singer Andy McCluskey promised the 2,000 fans at G Live it would not be so long before they returned.

He seemed genuinely touched – if not a little shattered – by the evening’s experience and the crowd’s reaction. Early ’80s electronic bands have bounced back over the last decade. The sounds of 30 years ago have gone from vinyl and cassettes to CDs and back to vinyl again. But whatever the medium, the message contained on albums such as the seminal Architecture & Morality clearly still appeals to a sizeable number of music lovers – even if they are now nearly all 50-somethings.

They had also made a sizeable sacrifice just to attend by foregoing watching Strictly Come Dancing. It was clearly on McCluskey’s mind how to win them over after admitting it had been so long since OMD had bothered to add Guildford to their itinerary. Having given the audience the chance to vote for one of three songs to add to the setlist, the frontman responsible for such classics as Enola Gay, Souvenir, Joan of Arc and Maid of Orleans, was determined to entertain – and not just by singing such songs along with newer tracks from the three albums released over the last seven years and since they reformed in 2006.

Thanks to electronic music’s ability to make his bass guitar largely redundant, McCluskey mainly sticks to doing what he does best… being king of the Dad Dancers. And he makes no bones about it. After some frenetic and largely awkward shape-throwing during new song Isotope, the room was bouncing as he plugged in his trusty Fender to get his dance-inducing bass line in Messages across.

The sweating frontman was beaming, saying: “This is fantastic. I have just got 2,000 people in Guildford to dance to a sad song about the end of the world... but that’s what we do.”

Great historical figures and nuclear Armageddon feature regularly in OMD’s catalogue. The indie-band-turned-pop-stars, who split over musical differences chasing commercial success, have rediscovered their mojo and are masters of their own destiny – just like their Dindisc days.

And judging from the reaction to the last two albums, they intend to hang around. Which brings us back to the dancing. McCluskey’s electrifying performance saw him end up on the floor towards the end of the set, leaving keyboards king Paul Humphreys to ask the ace of bass: “Has your knee gone again?” Andy bounced back up joking: “In my head I still think I am 24. The problem is I have the body of a 58-year-old and tomorrow I am going to feel like %!&*”

So could McCluskey be a surprise contestant on Strictly in 2018? Bruno would be excited about his passion and energy while Craig Revel Horwood disdainfully dismissed “the shaping of those hands darling.” I bet old Len would see the funny side of him doing a quick-step to one of his own numbers - how about Sailing on the SEV-ERN Seas? Andy would probably take some persuading to join the list of pop singers who have done Strictly.

“It’s great to see you all dancing,” he said. “Just a word of warning. Don’t dance like this in front of your teenage children. They will have no respect for you.” He is right of course, but his lack of shame should be applauded – and the crowd did just that as OMD saved their first hit from 1979 til the end – Electricity which charged into the merits of solar power and renewable energy long before Green campaigners forced politicians to make it fashionable. Don’t miss them when they do return. Andrew Griffin