The Arena was buzzing before the band even took to the stage - the atmosphere around the venue's bars and concourse area was more excitable than usual, and it felt like there was something special afoot.

Support acts Good Shoes, and legendary The Buzzcocks belting out the hit song Ever Fallen In Love With Someone (You Shouldn't have Fallen In Love With), set the ball rolling, before the mighty Maximo burst onto the stage and Paul Smith in his trademark bowler hat launched straight into the awesome Girls Who Play Guitars.

The pace never slowed, and excitement levels just kept rising as they ploughed through Fortnight's Time and Nosebleed.

New single Karaoke Plays was belted out to rapturous applause - and the few lucky fans who had won a place on the Maximo magical mystery bus tour earlier in the day, that re-enacted the bus trip from the music video, went absolutely crazy.

Apply Some Pressure went down a storm, but the highlight of the gig came at the end of the first set when they blasted out Velocity, sending the crowd into a complete frenzy.

The applause was deafening as they left the stage, and it was clear the young crowd wanted more as the chants of 'Maxi-mo' rang out all over the Arena.

The band responded, and started their encore set with the slightly more melodic Books From Boxes, and rounded off the night with the awesome Acrobat from their debut album A Certain Trigger.

A spectacular light show accompanied the track, ensuring that the gig finished on a high.

Excited spectators could be heard singing Maximo tracks around Newcastle for the rest of the night - a testament to a great band who will surely just keep getting better, and making the north east proud.

The Newcastle-based band - Paul Smith, Tom English, Duncan Lloyd, Archis Tiku and Lukas Wooller were clearly thrilled to back home where it all started, and the fans were delighted to have them back.

But the show wasn't over for the lucky few who went on to party with the band at the aftershow party, where the band members chatted to fans and enjoyed a long overdue night out in their hometown.