BEING backstage isn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. Instead of the alcohol, drugs and screaming admirers, there is a bloke vacantly staring into space while having a fag. It does have its perks though, and we have the best seats in the house while The Vaselines finish up with the frenzied Dying For It.

Closest to me is Scott Paterson, a guitar player who joined the band only last year. That’s not to suggest any naivety on his part though as he spent 11 years playing with Glasgow heavyweights Sons and Daughters.

However, his years in the business pale in comparison with Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee. The former walks off stage, guitar in hand and head down revealing, instead of the long hair he sported at his peak, a heavily receded and greying hairline. His nonchalance about such a well-received performance – it brought chants of “one more tune” – speaks volumes of his experience.

“The gig was fine,” he says. “But I wore a big jumper so I found it very hot.”

“There was a song or two in the setlist that was a bit blasphemous, but they were surprisingly well-received,” drummer Michael McGaughrin says.

The song in question is the sarcastically titled Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. Released in 1987 and written as a parody to the children’s hymn I’ll Be A Sunbeam, it is no wonder the percussionist had second thoughts about playing it at what was once a Christian festival.

Nothing seems to faze Frances, who appears to be perfectly comfortable and speaks to a stranger like an old friend.

“We play at all sorts. The last one we did was in Barcelona. Wherever we’re asked, we go. No place is too small, no place is too big,” she says.

During their first stint between 1986-1990, the band were admired by high-profile artists such as Nirvana and Belle & Sebastian before splitting up when the two singers’ relationship ended. After reforming in 2008, they have found a new audience, despite the years of absence.

Eugene tells me: “We don’t just want to play to people our own age, young people makes it more interesting. I think people are maybe just getting interested in us over the last few years because they’re only just getting a chance to hear us.

“I think over the last five, six or seven years we have got to playing to new people and finding new fans.”

He begins to mention the latest album, V For Vaselines, but he is interrupted and has to run off.

Scott picks up from where he left off: “I can appreciate the new record more because I didn’t write any of it. They’re great tunes.

“I think they just wanted to do some Ramonesy, scuzzy pop, its what they do really well. It’s not far off what they were doing before. Back in the day they were pretty heavy, you listen to things like Dying For It and Lovecraft with lots of feedback.”

This is all I get from him before he is called away too. The band members are running around, putting guitars away, rolling up leads and carrying amps, while loading it all into the back of a truck.

Only Frances isn’t carrying things. Instead, she is sat in front of a box signing paperwork. I’m surprised they don’t have someone to do this for them.

“It’s just the way it is,” Eugene tells me. “We’re involved in a dying industry. It’s all this X-factor and The Voice stuff, it’s changing things. There are just not the same opportunities for musicians.”

Whether the same opportunities are there or not, the Vaselines are certainly making the most of the ones they’ve been given.

The storming performance was much more than just a trip down memory lane. It seems there is still much more to come from Frances and the band, who have far from lost their spark.