Back in the 1960s Gene and the Gents were the local showband that gained wider fame thanks to a few hits and touring with the likes of Love Affair and The Move.

The Gents included future Éire Apparent and Wings guitarist Henry McCullough and their lead singer Gene, South African-born Dushy Chetty, back then before showband fame beckoned a Trinity College Dublin law student. Now living in England Chetty flew over specially for this Northwest Showband gig taking place during an auspicious spell for latterday showbands as a new generation of fans continue to discover the sound of a lost era. Talking to fans before the gig Chetty spoke with a smile of the time when the Gents were the band everyone wanted to hear, recalling gigs at the Townhall and the big crowds coming to see the band at the Silver Sandal, an Enniskillen ballroom run by the late Willie Gilleece.

The Northwest, a soulful eight-piece on the night led by singer-guitarist Eunan McCaffrey and trombonist Bob Quick, did justice to the spirit of the sound opening with the Albert Hammond-Mike Hazlewood song ‘You’re Such A Good Looking Woman,’ synonymous with showband legend Joe Dolan, easing into the Tremeloes’ ‘Here Comes My Baby’ and then ‘(Do) The Hucklebuck’ when the sound really began to shape. Dancing began with Chetty’s first notes, the singer later removing his white jacket, a classic showband moment. “It's getting warm up here,” he said, with a twinkle, the jacket later seen draped over a dancer’s shoulders swaying on the dancefloor before the jiving began in earnest. Stephen Graham

Dancing to the showband sound... Gene Chetty and the Northwest Showband at the Westville above