A night of flashing lights, nostalgic music and Simply Red was had at the Kent County Cricket Club in Canterbury on Saturday.

The famous Mick Hucknall – who also inspired some members of the crowd to don ginger curly wigs – took many of his fans straight back to the eighties and nineties when he appeared on stage at 8.45pm.

The British soul and pop band came to east Kent to celebrate with their fans more than 30 years in the music business – and in showbiz.

Supporting acts, singer-songwriters Emma Stevens and Ben Montague occupied the stage for nearly two hours combined, delivering a selection of quirky songs.

Both artists were raring the audience into action, with Mr Montague taking a selfie from the stage with the masses of fans in the background.

This, he said, was to prove to his daughter that he performs in front of thousands of people at gigs like these.

After a 15 minute gap the lights sprang back into action and Simply Red burst onto the stage.

Sounding as though the speakers were playing pre-recorded albums, Mr Hucknall’s voice was flawless and with the right crowd engagement he had people clapping along and swaying their arms to one of his best known songs, Holding Back the Years.

The nostalgic track that really got people jumping and dancing on the spot was Stars – but of course – that was probably the one they were all waiting for.

And it is absolutely no surprise that people were mouthing the words to the band’s songs as they performed because one in five households in this country owns a Simply Red album.

The one-and-a-half hour slot was filled back to back with well-known tracks the band has become internationally famous for.

It seemed pretty ironic that Mr Hucknall drew the night to a close with If You Don’t Know Me By Now – because after all, the 7,000 people who had gathered there that night definitely do!