Chris Rea is promoting his new music book, the fictional story of 1950s band The Delmonts, who later went on to become The Hofner Bluenotes, and so divided Monday night's set into three distinct sections to mirror this story arc.

The first part of the show, wherein the band adopted the form of The Delmonts, was frankly appalling - Shadows-lite instrumentals as toe-curling pastiche replete with utterly tasteless titles displayed on a screen throughout.

There was palpable relief in the air when Rea eventually took to the mic for the straight-up blues rock of The Hofner Bluenotes, but he failed to convert with songs which time and again revisited stock lyrical themes: God, the Devil, hell, roads and so forth.

The format did, however, free him to tear through some blistering slide guitar solos and Rea proved categorically that he still possesses a rich, gravelled voice perfectly suited to the blues.

Things picked up in the latter third of the set with a spirited run through his many hits, but a refusal to properly address or engage with his dedicated audience meant the atmosphere never really ignited.

The end product was a perfunctory performance - strangely soulless and almost stupefying in its relentless conservatism.