Although films such as Saturday Night Fever and Boogie Nights have immortalised the golden age of disco, Studio 54 was the exception, not the rule. For most people at the time, disco meant sweaty nights, dancers in ill-fitting flares and medallion men with illegal moustaches.

For those that were there, and a few who wished they had been, the Best Disco in Town effortlessly captures the vibe. A few punters have dressed up gloriously/absurdly and look as if they regret it. The organisers have noted the particular requirements of the oldest swingers in town by installing seating on the dancefloor.

Into this wedding bash from hell come the Real Thing. Someone, somewhere will remember them as the big-haired, grinning troupe behind such hits as Can You Feel the Force. Now, they are bald, wear Ali G hip-hop gear and put rap sections in their hits. At least Rose Royce sound like exactly like they did in 1976. As Car Wash gets everybody creaking to their feet, it's sobering to think that this is where the Chemical Brothers may be, 15 years from now.

In 1982, Shalamar's Jeffrey Daniel introduced the moonwalk to the UK. Here, 21 years on, he looks and dances exactly the same, while the band's blue-eyed electro-pop has a discernible freshness - perhaps because it has been more or less expunged from British airwaves.

So what on earth are Nile Rodgers's Chic doing here? They are the one disco era act with untouched, unassailable cool. Their 50-minute set underlines it with a blistering display of their influence on dance music. The monochrome stage set reflects their fusion of black American and white European grooves; their songs are the sources of stuff nicked by everybody from Basement Jaxx to S Club 7. By the time Good Times segues into Grandmaster Flash's Chic-stealing Wheels of Steel, nostalgia has made way for futuristic, existential funk and chintz has turned to gold dust. Thus, an evening that reflects every facet of the disco experience.

· At NEC, Birmingham, on Wednesday. Box office: 0870 909 4133. Then touring.