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King Rat And The Soul Cats formed in 1987 when frontman Chris Dean said he "got the inspiration" and, calling on many musicians he had worked with previously in bands like The Pulse and The Famous Five, formed the 10-piece group.

King Rat at Saumarez Park in the late '80s

Playing "motown, Atlantic soul, anything soul based really from that 1960s era", according to Chris, they mixed up covers and original material, though Chris admitted it was "not as many originals as I would have liked".

The band played as part of what Chris and Ged (Kelly, the band's saxophonist) described as a "vibrant" music scene at the time with "a range of styles" from the synth-pop of Unique and the Style Warriors to the anarcho-punk of Insurrection.

Chris said: "There was a campaign by Levi 501's which featured soul music and gave it a lift" just at the time the band was performing which added to their popularity and Ged added that being a "real band" at the time helped as there was a lot of electronic music about.

King Rat at the Fermain Tavern in the 1980s

During their first run the band found time to make a few recordings amongst the gigs at the Fermain Tavern, Savoy and Hermitage (amongst other places).

These recordings came together in the Soul Survivors album which included, like their live shows, a mix of original material and soul standards.

King Rat And The Soul Cats split at the end of 1990, Chris explained that "organising a gig for a band with 10 people is a major tactical exercise".

They did get back together in 1992 for a second run which saw them play a lot more private functions culminating with playing at the Grosvenor Hotel in London for Gary Lineker's leaving party before he went to play football in Japan.

The 2009 brass section

Ged added that it became increasingly hard to get gigs as he perceived the way venues and bands interacted had changed.

He said: "Music seemed to become a by product of the pubs". Whereas before that there had been venues dedicated more to live music that just being a pub with a band in the corner.

Since the band split in the 1990s all the members went on to do their own thing, Ged was a founder of a local jazz club and played in several bands there while Chris went on to form The Devotees with The Risk's Colin Leach.

The band's individual members carried on doing their own thing until 2009 when they were offered a gig but Chris said, "It didn't sound right... but it got us talking... we thought maybe it's time to get it back together".

Chris on stage in 2009

Though that initial gig did not happen the band began planning something of their own and they wanted to make it something special.

Ged said, "No offence to the venues that are out there... one of the frustrations is playing the same venues". Chris added, "If we were going to do it we wanted it to be big" - which is how they came up with the gig at Beau Sejour.

So in September 2009 the band took to the stage for the first time in more than decade to play a 29 song set that lasted more than two hours to more than 700 people.

Guitarist Monty McMonagle in 2009

The show was billed as "one time only" and Chris said before the gig, "who knows [if the band will gig again] you can't say for sure, we're just focusing on one night" but during the gig mention was made of a possible follow up show sometime in the future.