IF PUNK had sprung into being 100 years earlier than it did, the Tiger Lillies would probably be the result.

The weird threesome – drummer Mike Pickering bassist Adrian Stout and high-pitched frontman Martyn Jacques – have always been far too offbeat to ever have enjoyed anything resembling mainstream success, but having been around for more than 25 years and recorded 35 albums they have built up an eclectic and dedicated following.

As a result the audience at Worcester’s Huntington Hall on Saturday night was one of the most strangely diverse groups ever gathered, with ageing rockers, young punks and respectable-looking middle class couples mixing to enjoy a night of bizarre entertainment.

Unfortunately the show got off to something of a false start when the trio took the stage, only for Stout to immediately realise his rather odd-looking bass guitar wasn’t working.

But after Jacques and Pickering trudged back offstage and Stout spent a rather awkward ten minutes or so tinkering with the instrument finally all was back on track and they launched into the show.

Attempting to describe exactly what is on offer at a Tiger Lillies show is something of an impossible task. Imagine a demented cabaret performed by three clowns who accidently got left behind by the circus 25 years ago and you’re part of the way there.

With their current tour taking a ‘greatest hits’ approach to their extensive back catalogue the show proved an excellent cross-section of the band’s work, with sex, drinking and suicide – perhaps the inevitable result of combining the two – arising as the most common themes.

While Jacques was undoubtedly the main attraction, commanding attention with his bizarre high-pitched voice and gurning facial expressions, his compatriots were on top form too, with Stout even putting down his bass to play a couple of tunes using a violin bow and a large, intimidating-looking saw.

Surprisingly the majority of the performance was almost entirely devoid of audience interaction – aside from a notable moment when Jacques eyeballed the crowd in the apparent belief he’d spotted a particularly attractive young man during their ode to that most devastating of beverages, Gin.

But as the evening drew to a close the frontman suddenly turned to the crowd and asked if anyone had any requests and, after deciphering a cacophony of shouts from the audience, happily played two of the bands most well-known ditties, Hell and Bully Boys.

Sadly there was no encore, despite the audience loudly and persistently calling for one, but this may have been the result of the delay at the start of the performance.

When describing the Tiger Lillies it would be all too easy to say “It’s not for everyone”. And if you’re terribly offended by the idea of having carnal relations with a swarm of flies you’d probably be right.

But if Saturday night’s faultless performance and enraptured audience proves anything it’s that great musicianship and good old fashioned bawdy fun never goes out of style.