The procession of Britpop acts repeatedly regrouping for throwback tours makes for a curiously compelling proposition.

While you can’t begrudge bands and fans for wanting to exhume the ghosts of cherished memories, a frequently wearying sense of desperation tends to linger behind the nostalgia, witnessed by statuesque crowds with only the occasional burst of dad dancing to liven the malaise.

Echobelly have a new album, Anarchy and Alchemy, but it seemed somewhat unlikely that anyone here had turned up with a deep desire to hear new songs, much less to engage in any of the excitement that record’s title suggests.

There was a distinctly odd, flat atmosphere at times, feeling uneasily like a wake for the dancefloors where Echobelly might once have inspired energetic exuberance. Perhaps it didn’t help that singer Sonya Madan, the band’s softly-spoken singer, seemed a touch half-hearted in her vocals, although performing to a room bearing all the passive wonder of a vintage car show can hardly provide the most resounding impetus to up the ante.

King of the Kerb, a classic piece of guitar pop which reached 22 years old last month, might as well have been karaoke, with the microphone held to the crowd, a ring of whom gladly sang along. Other hits offered high points, among them I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me, which struck a relatively frenetic pace after Madden urged everyone to move forward in the aftermath of an entrance so timid it would have had shoegazers calling for greater fanfare.

Dead Again was a psychedelic swirl of guitars and drum rolls, building to a ceremonious peak, and the sultry menace of Dark Therapy was a classy reminder of former glories. With a little more feeling and power, this could have been more than a wistful nod to the past.