Three years since they returned to active duty, Was (Not Was) made a swift visit to Britain last week to flag up their brilliant new album Boo!. So swift, it seemed that they had not even managed to pack a spare bass guitar. When Don Was, the group's co-leader, broke a string halfway through their set on Saturday night no roadies showed up with a new string, let alone a replacement instrument. Was's Cheshire Cat grin didn't slip for a moment as he proceeded to play out the rest of the gig with only three strings, an extraordinary feat given the extent to which the band's music hinges on his intricate funk bass lines.

But then great musicianship combined with supreme cool has always been a hallmark of the band from Detroit, led by the “brothers” Don and David Was. Still best remembered for their rather atypical pop hit, Walk the Dinosaur, they put out a string of groundbreaking albums in the 1980s and early 1990s that blurred the boundaries between rock, dance and R'n'B music.

Their career went into “hiatus” - something of a buzzword among bands of a certain age these days - while Don and David both forged parallel lines of business as successful composers and record producers, with clients including the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan among many others. But now with a rejuvenated line-up, which includes all three of the frontline singers associated with the band - “Sir” Harry Bowens, Sweet Pea Atkinson and Donny Ray Mitchell - they are once again performing close to their best form.

Despite having their only London show shoe-horned into a too brief and too early time slot at a venue not ideally matched to the preferences of an audience of a more sophisticated vintage, they put on a display of impeccable style and righteous bravado. Songs from the new album ranged from the slow, achingly beautiful ballad From the Head to the Heart to the sweet soul-music swing of Crazy Water, a number which harked back to the era of the mighty Sam Cooke.

David Was stepped to the front, brandishing his flute like a ringmaster's baton, to deliver the comically surreal rap of I Feel Better than James Brown, and there were sudden, tornado-like guitar solos from the guitarist Randy Jacobs during Your Luck Won't Last and a surprisingly robust rendition of Walk the Dinosaur.

Introducing a medley of the band's earliest hits, including Robot Girl and Out Come the Freaks, Don Was reminded the audience that the band had enjoyed an early taste of success playing these songs in the dance clubs of London in the 1980s.

With the singers doing their hand jive moves and the horns on fire, they romped through a string of Saturday night favourites and time melted away.

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