We also get "Stray Cat Strut" and Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock", Setzer romancing the crowd with an old Gretch guitar that he cradles with the kind of affection an Antiques Roadshow bod might reserve for a Ming vase. Dresel is an extraordinarily locomotive drummer who likes to swing from side to side as he plays. It's a bit like watching Gene Krupa on the slalom."Ignition" and "Built for Speed" are clever and catchy distillations of the kind of cars'n'girls song pioneered by Chuck Berry. Hatton is a practicing Baptist minister who slaps his bass meatily, then spins it about on its axis. For them, Setzer is the living embodiment of all that is/was vital about 1950s rock'n'roll. And, as early set highlight "This Cat's On A Hot Roof" makes clear, Brian and his band are anything but museum pieces.In the States, this excellent song was the kind of swinging conceit that brought success for Setzer's Grammy-grabbing big-band vehicle, The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Tonight, though, it's just him, drummer Bernie Dresel, and double bass player, Johnny Hatton.

Finland might seem an odd place for Setzer to play two isolated gigs, but back in 1981, this was where he first received a gold disc for The Stray Cats' eponymous debut. The Tavastia has blackjack tables set up for play in the bar area. Entertainingly, many of the young capacity crowd have dressed as though auditioning for bit-parts in a Gene Vincent biopic. His elaborate pompadour is still upstanding, though, and coiffure vanity being de rigueur for the ageing rockabilly, he's also still blond. At 44, the erstwhile Stray Cats leader Brian Setzer is no longer a new kit on the block. For more information visit Tickets are £10 but 200 pairs of free tickets are available for readers of this newspaper who call the ticket hotline 0870 010 9031, quoting 'The Independent'.Stephen Evans, of MEK Ltd (house designer and civil engineer), can be contacted on 01435 884800.. However the comfort here is much greater than a period house and I love that."The London Homebuilding and Renovating Show is at Wembley Exhibition Centre from 10am-5pm daily, Fri-Sun this weekend. Internally, the house is crammed with features that add "period details", such as carved wooden cornices, Georgian-style low sills and fireplace surrounds.The Fagans have also profited from building their dream home.

It cost them £360,000 and, 10 years later, it is worth around £1.4m But it's the creature comforts, not the profit margins, that clearly please John: "We love old properties and it was disappointing seeing so many period properties that we were unable to buy. The end result is what looks like a Georgian house with a shallow-pitched slate roof complete with six dormer windows. In the early Nineties, John and Susan Fagan searched fruitlessly for a period property with land around Buckinghamshire, and then in Oxfordshire and Berkshire. They looked at more than 100 properties without success, before they eventually decided to remodel a brick-built 1950s bungalow which John jointly owned with his mother. "We wanted a character house and we ended up building one," says Susan.But their lengthy search meant that they knew exactly the type of home they wanted - and now they finally have it, despite planning difficulties encountered along the way.

A recent study by the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, sponsors of this year's Homebuilding Show, reveals that many other self-builders like Philippa are similarly smitten. According to the research, 63 per cent of self-builders who've finished a project would consider doing it all over again and 85 per cent of people who've never built before are "now considering it" - a rise of 15 per cent on last year's figures.TV programmes may be partially fuelling the interest, but ever-spiralling property prices are also a factor prompting people to look for alternatives. Building costs were £244,719, so the total cost was £527,719. A year later their house has a value of £750,000 but Philippa warns other would-be self-builders to research their dream thoroughly beforehand if they want to produce profits: "We spent a couple of years visiting homebuilding and renovating shows where we not only found cheaper, local tradespeople but also found out about often boring but nitty-gritty details."The couple have no plans to move from their "pretty near perfect" new home, although Philippa admits to being tempted to do it all over again. In this house we use all the space all the time."Stephen drew up the design for the house and, as they had to stick to the footprint of the original bungalow for planning requirements, included a basement, which was the only way to justify costs and produce much-needed space. Philippa admits that designing your own home is a luxury that most people are unable to afford but the pair spent days together poring over the design and modifying it before they were sure they had it absolutely right: "With an architect that would mean extra fees."The result is an elegant, three-storey, five-bedroomed home that is not only spacious and airy thanks to its galleried living room, but is also highly practical and caters fully for the demands of family life. Amenities such as a playroom, balcony, tons of storage and double garage with office space above are all bonuses, as are the stunning views over the countryside.Stephen's civil engineer background certainly helped this couple achieve their dream but is it a realistic option for most people? "Anyone could do it," says Philippa.