Tonight’s the night, and it’s a massive one. We’re heading down to The Lexington in Islington to celebrate my mate Mat Sargent’s birthday, and there’s only one proper way to mark the occasion—watching him front the legendary Chelsea on their 50th Anniversary tour.

It’s going to be an emotional, powerhouse of a gig. As most of you know, Gene October had to step back recently after some serious surgery, but he gave the lads his full blessing to keep the engine running and the legacy alive. That means Mat and Nic Austin are splitting the lead vocal duties tonight, stepping right up to the plate to front the whole show. With Desperate Measures and Healthy Junkies warming up the room from 7:30pm, the place will be absolutely sweating by the time Mat grabs the mic.

You can bet your life they’ll be tearing into "Right to Work." For me, that track is pure, unfiltered 1977 history. It was Chelsea's debut single, cooked up right at the boiling point of the first wave of British punk, and it still hits like a brick through a window. While half the scene back then was shouting about tearing the world down, "Right to Work" was a massive, fist-in-the-air anthem about the simple dignity of wanting a job. It captured that bleak, late-seventies reality of endless dole queues and young people being completely written off by the establishment. It’s an angry, blistering tune that doesn't just ask for a future, it demands it. There’s a reason Mojo slapped it on their list of the greatest punk singles of all time; it hasn't lost a single volt of its electricity.

Standing in one of London’s best venues, watching your mate front an iconic punk band on his birthday—it doesn’t get much better than that for a Friday night. If you’re down there tonight, come and raise a pint with us. Happy birthday, Mat. Let's look after each other in the pit.