The 300-capacity venue is a complete “sea of denim”, as one of the crowd, local musician Nick Dunne says to me.

Around me are faces from the Harrogate music scene I haven’t seen in nearly ten years and some are wondering what I’m doing here.

I’m not known for a deep love of hard rock, though Rainbow Rising is one of my all-time favourite albums.

Support act The Phil Dean Band fail to convert me, though they get a good response from the crowd and their set of mainly 60s blues-rock covers (Hendrix, Cream) serves as a neat primer in the musical roots of tonight’s headliners.

Who’d have thought Michael Schenker would ever play this small venue?

Who’d have thought after lengthy troubles with drink and money he’d look this good?

In black shades, cut-off leather jacket and slicked-back blonde hair, the 52-year-old legendary guitarist could pass for a European assassin in Lethal Weapon 2.

His band, mostly Scandinavian recruits from the Hughes Turner Project, are in fine form from the off and the set is exactly what any true fan of UFO and Schenker’s own group MSG would wish for – total classics from the golden era of melodic hard rock.

Most importantly, Schenker himself is in a good mood, as positive and focussed as tonight’s band ably headed up by lead singer Leif Sundin, who, though no Ronnie James Dio (and I did see him live once) has the benefit of having toured with MSG in the recent past.

Maybe it’s the no-nonsense northern European approach to playing but the set is not only technically impressive but also remarkably free of any cheesiness.

This is no Spinal Tap, it’s just one great slamming riff and belting chorus after another.

As the hits roll out – Are You ready To Rock, Armed and Ready, On and On, Attack of the Mad Axeman (all MSG tracks), Lights Out, Let It Roll, Too Hot To Handle, Only You Can Rock Me (UFO) – the smiles on the band’s faces grow bigger.

They are loving it and, surprisingly, so am I.

With the final, bright clanging chords of Doctor Doctor and Rock Bottom still ringing in my ears, I suddenly realise this must have been the way rock used to be, that the classic era of 1970s actually was as good as everyone always said.

As Schenker leaves the stage and rejoins the throng, I grab his hand. Even after he’s turned to make his way to the back of the venue to sign autographs I’m still holding on, clinging to the past.

Graham Chalmers