Drummer Jeff Macleay said more than 150 tickets had already been sold for the show, so it looked like the room would be buzzing.

That is, of course, provided the weather plays fair.

C 2 Air played its comeback gig at the Morisset club on June 4 this year. It was the first gig the band had played together since 1989.

But it proved to be a dark and stormy night.

“It was a filthy night, but still so many people turned up to see us,” Macleay said.

“The papers called that night Armageddon. The gods of nature might have been against us, but the rock gods smiled with over 300 people turning up despite the weather. The club was amazed.

“We were the talk of the town with everyone saying ‘You guys are even better than ever’.”

Those who missed that gig can get a feel for it online,  with several songs from the show featured on YouTube.

“We were as nervous as hell before the show, but the professionalism kicked in, and we were three bars into the first song and I was smiling away,” Macleay said.

The band originally formed in the 1970s at Morisset High School, and called it quits when life got in the way at 1989.

Macleay said it was what happened after disbanding that has polished the C 2 Air we see today.

Guitarist Graeme McCutcheon went on to play with The Redneck Mothers. He is now also a high school music teacher, and music examiner at the Newcastle Conservatorium

Keyboard player John Roy played with The Fuggleys and in Duelling Pianos, and still works as comic Rodney Rude’s producer and right-hand man.

Bass guitarist Paul King, a former student of McCutcheon’s at Morisset High School, plays with Distant Thunder. He is the only change to the band’s original lineup.

And Macleay played for years with Newcastle band The Slots.

“After C 2 Air I got a really good education in musicianship, and it’s the same for John and Graeme.”

When C 2 Air reformed, and began rehearsing, it was clear they still had the chemistry, Macleay said.

“From the moment we got back in the studio, we were still tight,” he said.

“And we could feel in the lead-up to that gig, that we had all matured as musicians.”

The New Year’s Eve show will be all about the 1980s.

The band will play some of the best pop and rock from the decade, with an emphasis on Aussie classics.

And they’re inviting punters to get into the spirit of the occasion.

“It’s a fancy dress night, and there’ll be a prize for the person with the best 1980s-style outfit,” Macleay said.

Since the June gig, C 2 Air have added another 10 songs to their set list.

Among the new additions are Don’t Change (INXS), Run by Night (Midnight Oil), and When the War is Over (Cold Chisel).

“And we also do a couple of Dragon songs in Rain and Speak No Evil,” Macleay said.

The band will play three one-hour sets, starting at 9.30pm, and finishing at 1.30am.

Tickets cost $20 and are selling fast.

Tickets will also be available at the door on the night.