It’s been a busy year for the 70s punk legends Stiff Little Fingers, still fronted by the iconic Belfast-born Jake Burns.

They brought their 2015 spring tour to Bournemouth hot on the heels of releasing their brand new and too long awaited 10th studio album, ‘No Going Back’.

Funded by their loyal fan base, the new record was part of an astonishing pledge music campaign that smashed its original target in less than 12 hours of going live.

It may be 10 years since they last made an album, however it’s very much business as usual for SLF, who have produced another fine collection of fast, melodic punk tracks confronting everything from contemporary political problems to some of Jake’s own personal demons.

Back on true form, the record has earned them front covers on the music newsstands and the number one spot in the BBC rock album charts and is easily their best offering since they reformed somewhere back in the mid-to-late 80s.

The Academy was reassuringly full this evening, proving that the partisan following that SLF are still well known for reaches as far south as Bournemouth.

We were still queuing three deep at the bar when the familiar tones of Go for It started to ring out, indicating to everyone present that the band were finally taking the stage.

The meaningful Strummerville, 2008’s tribute to icon Joe Strummer, is perhaps not the classic opener we might have hoped for; however when they launched straight into Nobody’s Hero straight after this, it definitely got things moving in the right direction.

2015 sees the ‘Fingers’ as still a formidable live act as ever, offering Bournemouth a perfect blend of old and new material as they tore through a set where new songs stand up surprisingly well against their legendary back catalogue.

The ferocious tempo of some of their very early tracks may have diminished slightly, but they are all still delivered with the passion and aggression intended for the originals.

My Dark Places and Guilty as Sin sat well alongside firm crowd favourites, Straw Dogs, Just Fade Away, Doesn’t Make It Alright and Bits of Kids.

There weren’t many of the uninitiated there on Friday night, but everyone knows the words to every single song, which surely can’t be a bad thing and is definitely a rarity these days.

Wasted Life, Tin Soldiers and Suspect Device closed the set, while the encore Alternative Ulster completed the classics, ensuring that everyone was sent home on a high. Still delivering value well over 40 years, Stiff Little Fingers are still very much a meaningful presence in the British punk rock scene.