Stick ‘em up punks – Tarantino-movie-made-flesh the Fun Lovin’ Criminals were back at the O2 with a bang, putting on one heck of a show for their loyal band of fans.

“Thanks for having us back in this f*****g dive every six months,” said frontman Huey Morgan, still arguably the coolest man in music, his every witticism, anecdote and one-liner delivered in that trademark Noo Yawk drawl – despite the fact that he is now an honorary Brit.

The band’s long-time collaborator DJ Mateo di Fontaine got the crowd well and truly warmed up with an epic set of tunes which could have come from any self-repecting FLC fan’s record collection.

Touching down to plug their new album Another Mimosa – a collection of covers by the likes of Bobby Womack, Ice Cube, Link Wray and even Neil Diamond – plus some reworkings of their own material, the Cowley Road venue became party central as the three-piece looked like they were having as much fun as we were.

Their sound is still as impossible to pigeonhole as ever – rock mixed with hip-hop, soul, funk and jazz, shaken and stirred then served as a cool cocktail of sound – laced with aural explosions courtesy of bandmate Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser’s box of samples.

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Crowd favourites Scooby Snacks, Up on the Hill, King of New York and Smoke ‘Em got the place absolutely bouncing. Big Night Out and Loco keep the vibe going, while the covers (Bobby Womack’s Daylight, Neil Diamond’s Hello Again) showcase a band still in love with playing to a live audience.

Bantering amongst themselves and with the crowd, while their criminal days are long behind them, there is no chance of them ever being prosecuted by trading standards for failing to fulfil the fun lovin’ part of their brief.

An encore finished off by their theme tune The Fun Lovin’ Criminal, and not a single person could leave the O2 without feeling they had been thoroughly entertained.

MARC EVANS 4/5