Maximo Park The Dome, Doncaster

It is strange, therefore, that singer Paul Smith goes for that middle-aged tax collector look of comb-over, hat and suit. Yet, you get the impression this isn't Smith trying to be cool, it's just like how he likes to dress.

Such honesty translates into their live performance tonight. Some have compared Smith to Morrissey - similar geekiness, similar ability to write vividly poetic pop songs. But there is no cynicism here, aside from the love-lorn song lyrics, just Smith flailing around, dropping an anecdote about a song here and there, genuinely happy to here in Donny, on their biggest tour to date.

However, perhaps it's the sports hall-tastic nature of the venue, which makes you feel like you are back at school watching the resident sixth form band, albeit with a lot more amps and some flashy LCD lighting going on. But you do get the feeling Maxmo Park need to rock just a little bit more – play harder, sing louder. They do so on a bristling finale of Our Velocity, as Smith sings 'I've got no one to call in the middle of the night any more' with the passion and sincerity of the recently heart-broken.

In the encore the crowd seems pretty baffled when Smith begins reading poetry over scrambled guitar noise, a nod to their avant-garde roots, but everyone sings along to Graffiti, a pop song about radical French politics; these are affable, rather than angry, young men, however.

Heather Hampson