Summer by the seaside and a mod invasion!

It could be 50 years ago. Indeed the mid 1960s is where we find ourselves when the curtain rises on this musical about the mercurial rise and fall of the Small Faces.

It traces the band through three years - 1965 to 1968 - which saw them rise from chippy East End mods with a passion for raucous R&B to even chipper hippies losing themselves in swirl of psychedelia and bad karma.

It was only three years but it must have felt like 300. They enjoyed massive commercial success but were undone by ego (and acid) trips and ended up broke.

Lead singer Steve Marriott eventually walked out and Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood walked in. The Small Faces were no more.

It’s a tricky tale to tell in a singalong musical but actor and writer Carol Harrison who plays Marriott’s mum Kay has done a fine job.

The show is narrated by Chris Simmons as a middle aged Marriott looking back with some regret on his chaotic life while young Steve is played with considerable moddy-boy panache by Mark Newnham.

As the tale unfolds we get all the hits from a pretty good onstage band from Watcha Gonna Do About It through Here Comes the Nice, All or Nothing, Itchycoo Park, Tin Soldier and the studio gem that was Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake.

Those three years may have disintegrated into a nightmare for the Small Faces but re-living them in this show is a hugely enjoyable experience for the audience. My only criticism is that it would have been so much better in a small studio theatre.