Blur guitarist Graham Coxon’s return visit to Brighton was an abject lesson in how to antagonise an audience.

Playing to a packed venue on a relatively low stage, he elected to remain invisible by sitting down throughout and his performance was exclusively devoted to his new, currently unavailable, concept album The Spinning Top.

When you added his new direction, eschewing his trademark distorted electric guitar for a softly-plucked acoustic, it looked like fans would be sorely disappointed. But somehow Coxon got away with it.

By the third acoustic song, the gorgeous In The Morning, there were rumblings among the crowd. But the quality of Coxon’s new material seemed to win through – even though the louder, more electric If You Want Me, Dead Bees and Humble Man (the only song he stood up for) received the biggest cheers.

Leaving old favourites out of his encores – in favour of album closer November and a tribute to acoustic legend Davey Graham – may have pushed it a little too far though, as he exited the stage to a few disappointed calls for more.