It had to be one of the most incongruous gigs ever played. In one corner was a group of talented anarchists who share their name with a radically democratic faction of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army.

In the other was the establishment, in the form of the Duke of Norfolk and his ancestral home.

And Mark was not one to let pass the opportunity for a few friendly digs at the nobility.

"I asked the Duke if we could storm the castle, but with plastic bottles and good intentions," he told the crowd and gently mocked those picnickers with their "chardonnay and brie" rather than "cider and hard cheese".

"Punk rock at the castle – who would have thunk it," he said. "Being a local lad, I never would have believed it."

Storm the castle they did – and the many in the crowd who didn't seem to know who they were listening to – with a barrage of some top-notch music and a highly entertaining show.

As a live act, they are phenomenal and the acoustics were fabulous as they mixed hits and anthems like a brilliant rendition of One Way and Beautiful Day with some new songs.

From new album Letters from the Underground, Before The End, A Life Less Ordinary, The Cholera Well and Burn America Burn showed a band celebrating their 20th anniversary and on top form.

And a track for the Duke? There had to be one, of course, and it was Liberty Song.

Support for the night came from 3 Daft Monkeys, who got the audience moving with some catchy violin-based songs, and Seth Lakeman, with an amazing ability to play violin and sing at the same time.

The man who is said to have made folk sexy proved a crowd pleaser with some softer folk and more upbeat numbers.

A great evening ended with fireworks (or was that The Levellers blasting the castle?) and I left with the words of Beautiful Day in my head "nothing is impossible".


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