With a quarter-full Brighton Centre made up of friends, family and a few fans, Toploader limped into town on a drizzly, damp night.

How depressing it must be playing to a scarcely populated venue on the comedown of a huge-selling first album.

Toploader's gig on Friday night simply proved they can still play the tracks they are famed and often ridiculed for. It showed nothing new.

You knew things were looking dodgy when, 15 minutes after the scheduled start time, the band were still backstage and there was more empty white floor on view than there were fans.

The Brighton Centre is not the biggest of venues and it regularly sells out - or at least comes close to it.

On Friday night entire sections were cordoned off due to a lack of demand.

For the first half of the show the only people I saw dancing were two old ladies, later identified as family of the band. It didn't bode well.

The frustrating thing with this band is that all the elements seem to be in place for some great tracks.

Somehow, though, they just don't gel.

The gig was a bit like watching a bad England football match. There were enough quality players but they didn't produce the results. Despite some stunning moments, the overall package was a let-down.

It started with orchestral music pumping out of the speakers as the band made their way on stage, the silhouette of Joe's big, fuzzy sheepdog hair instantly recognisable and, for the first few songs, everything felt great.

You remembered why the band became popular in the first place, started to think the slating they received in the music press was grossly unfair and everything was fluffy and nice.

Just Hold On, the second song of the night, brought back memories of an up-and-coming band about to hit the big time, when everything in the Toploader garden looked rosy.

Dan had just met Gail and album sales hit a million in England alone.

But as the songs wore on everything sounded the same.

The two old ladies were still the only ones dancing and the reality of Toploader seemed to hit home.

The reason the Brighton Centre was a quarter full is because the public clearly need a little more than cheesy, tinkly pop-rock.

Most of the tracks from Magic Hotel, the new album, were a step back and the good ones sounded as if they had been missed off Onka's Big Moka.

There has been no progression, which ultimately explains the position Toploader find themselves in.

Perhaps the night can be best summed up by the fact that the after-show party at the Sussex Arts Club rocked a lot more than the gig itself. For a start, everyone was up and dancing.

Review by Sam Relph, sam.relph@theargus.co.uk