[Mr Scarrott]

"It's not the despair," John Cleese once said, "I can take the despair..it's the hope I can't stand."

So on this day, when we get the first real look at the fourteenth (or thereabouts) version of my favourite band, what are my feelings?

There is interest, certainly in the new line-up, combined with a worry that too many years may have taken its toll on one or two members that the live experience will not quite pass full muster. There is optimism that some recordings may emanate- there is enough talent, and maybe some new chemistry which could produce this. But a full album? I'm not holding my breath.

There is despair that a mixture of bloody-mindedness, finance, art, animosity, impatience and lack of perspective have led them to this day.

There is relief, at a personal level, that I was fortunate to witness the most celebrated manifestation of this band play live. And they were bloody good.

There was hope. I will miss the hope that somehow those five people would produce a worthy and fitting album to close their association. But it was not to be. Yes, despair I can take, but the hope, it's the hope I can't stand.