Actually, I’m scheduled tonight to make my way to the Borderline and review Mama Rosin – a band from Geneva that plays Cajun music! My musical week surely can’t get any more interesting than that, or so I assume. Until my editor calls me at last minute’s notice to inform me I’m on tonight’s guest list for Adam Ant at the 100 Club. Right, my musical week has just gotten better, or so I assume!

The prospect of seeing the legendary Dandy Highwayman of new wave punk-rock play the legendary venue is something that instantly fills me with excitement I can barely put into words. Strictly no support band it says on the info, and Adam will kick off at 8pm sharp. Does this mean an extra long set? Seeing how his fans are expected to fork out an outrageous £50 for the ticket (and the merchandise on offer doesn’t come cheap either), yes, it better be a long set then. After all, we’re talking a dingy little basement club on Oxford Street, not the Royal Albert Hall…

By 8pm the sweatbox that is the 100 Club is filled with Ant fans, while some ‘celebrities’ are floating about too (EastEnders’ ‘Alfie Moon’ Shane Richie being one of them). But 8pm goes and 8.30pm comes. So does 9pm and 9.30pm. No sign of Adam Ant anywhere. Rumours are spreading that no one knows where he is… He’s certainly not in the building and the crowd starts to get disgruntled. Can’t exactly blame them! Finally, at about 10.20pm, Mr. Ant turns up, dressed in an outfit that’s half Mad Hatter and half Captain Jack Sparrow. With his goatee and dark-rimmed specs, Adam Ant seems indeed a dead ringer for Johnny Depp. As Ant once remarked, “Johnny plays a pirate. I am a pirate!”. Whatever makes your boat float, Captain Ant.

Without any apology for keeping us waiting, and taking large swills from a can of Guinness (which end up spat out over punters including yours truly), he blasts straight into the punk-rock number ‘Plastic Surgery’. Next is ‘Deutscher Girls’ (a song that resonates with me) and the crowd is no longer disgruntled but on adrenaline, just like the musicians on stage.

Finally, he informs us that there will be two sets played tonight, no matter how late the hour and regardless of what management has to say. It sounds all a bit grand gesture to make up for lost time, but some fans might need to catch a last train home, so time actually does matter. Next songs performed are ‘Catholic Day’, ‘Beat My Guest’ and ‘Christian Dior’ (though he’s wearing Viv Westwood, as he proudly explains).

His band is in top form too, and he even has two drummers aboard (a He and a bottle-blond She). The pair is simply excellent, no doubt. His two backing singers are not just eye candy but can hold a tune as well. There is blond Georgina Leahy and then there is brunette Georgina Baillie (yes, she of the ‘Sachsgate Scandal’). If that ain’t publicity in itself! Each and every one of his band members contributes to a killer sound and a killer set with Ant classics like ‘Car Trouble’, ‘B-Side Baby’, ‘Viva Le Rock’ and ‘Never Trust A Man (with egg on his face)’. Finally, ‘Dog Eat Dog’ give Ant’s two drummers ample opportunity to show off their skills, set off against the frontman’s ‘in-your-face-attitude’ voice.

After a brief break, Ant returns for the second part of the set, this time sporting his Lord Nelson outfit and Nelson’s Prayer tattoo on his arm (amongst various other tats). Naturally, the crowd expects to hear the next set of Ant hits but instead gets a cover version of T.Rex’ ‘Get It On’ followed by ‘It’s Only Rock N Roll’ by the Stones. Now, don’t get me wrong folks. I’m one of the biggest T.Rex fans there is, and sure enough I always had a thing going for the Rolling Stones, too. And most of the fans at tonight’s concert would agree with Adam Ant’s impeccable taste in music. However, I’m certain they didn’t pay £50 to hear him play cover versions of his musical heroes, but that’s what they got in part two: ever more cover versions, from Hendrix’ ‘Wild Thing’ to ‘Shaking All Over’ by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, from the Stooges cover ‘No Fun’ to Peanuts Wilson’s ‘Cast Iron Arm’. Followed by yet another Stones cover, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’. Oh dear! You’d swear that with all the countless songs Adam Ant had dished out over the decades, both band and solo, he’d be busy enough playing his own selected repertoire tonight but no such luck. When some fans dare to express their disappointment by shouting “How about a bit of Adam and the Ants instead of Stones?”, Adam barks “I’m the last of the punks!” and to emphasize his point, spits at the crowd. Oh dear oh dear! Shane Richie doesn’t look amused and neither does anyone else. In a temporary change of mind and mood, Mr. Ant decides to play one of his own compositions at long last, namely ‘You’re So Physical’. And then he simply walks off stage, no “Good night” or “Thanks for coming”, not even an encore. Cover versions aside (and it’s not as if they were performed badly), Adam Ant did delight us with quite a few classics from his back catalogue, but not a single one of his greatest hits like ‘Antmusic’, ‘Prince Charming’, ‘Goody Goody Two Shoes’ or ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’ were amongst them. Did the performance stand? Yes. Did Adam Ant fully deliver? On this occasion, sadly no!