Initially pushed by his record company into taking on lead vocal duties at the start of Level 42's career, Mark King still has the air of a somewhat reluctant frontman.

But the warmth of the reception afforded the slap-bass virtuoso should see him more at ease next time he comes to town.

The band were lords of the early compact-disc age, chart mainstays on both sides of the Atlantic but, after their commercial high-water mark in 1986, they followed the time-honoured path of deaths, internal divisions and declining sales.

Having disbanded in 1994, the usual legal wrangles ensued, with King only recently securing the rights to the Level 42 name.

At first, it felt strange seeing a band who have never, ever been cool continue to play venues this large.

Even the recent Eighties revival that has seen all manner of dubious suspects rehabilitated, passed them by.

But you quickly realised that they never needed to be fashionable. They simply possess a clutch of fine pop songs - and one really great one in the set, Hot Water.

The Level 42 fan is an elusive creature but a voluble and sizeable contingent of diehards greeted every album track with rapturous cheers.

When King beseeched them to rise to their feet at the start of The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up), few refused.

It may well have been the only time most of the audience would dance this year - outside of the office Christmas party - but it was impossible to begrudge them their fun.

King's voice was stronger than you may remember, with the four-piece band supplying an effective falsetto counterpoint - and, mercifully, he kept the bass solos to a minimum.

The critical consensus that the band betrayed the promise of their early jazz-funk fusion for the lure of the mainstream rings hollow. That early material feels now like the most tepid of wine-bar soundtracks, whereas the hits - Lessons In Love, Something About You, Running In The Family and Leaving Me Now - display an infectious and idiosyncratic gift for the three-minute form.

Dust off that Best Of... CD. Or borrow it from your dad. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Review by Warren Pegg, features@theargus.co.uk