It's strange what a tiny stage, some basic visuals and a couple of hundred fans can do for a band. For the Black Eyed Peas it takes a trio of well-meaning, if bland, rappers and turns them into hyperactive party animals.
Their debut album, Behind the Front, made stateside heroes of the Black Eyed Peas crew - Will-I-Am, Ap De Ap and Taboo - but here in Britain they're known only to those who still consider a backward baseball cap cool. Which is odd considering Behind the Front is the perfect background music for credible dinner parties, with it's mellow, unexciting grooves and inoffensive lyrics. Fear of a Black Planet, it ain't.
But having just finished a high-profile support slot on the Macy Gray tour, and with a new album, Bridging the Gap, Black Eyed Peas are out to get the respect and success they believe they deserve. From the moment they burst on-stage, they've got something to prove. Shedding their comfy coffee table image, they suddenly become bouncing arbiters of fun and flava. The sheer enthusiasm is amazing, as Will-I-Am, dressed in fetching waistcoat and tea-cosy hat, jumps up and down like a kid on Christmas Day. Taboo, all Rudolph Valentino head scarf and Bruce Lee moves, can hardly contain himself, while Ap De Ap does lunges towards the crowd in a hip-hop style, hyping the audience. "Word up," he cries, "love in the house."
And there certainly is. The crowd feeds off the exuberance of their heroes, while the band maintain their energy levels thanks to all those hands in the air. The Black Eyed Peas' mission is to show the good guy side of rap, banishing "all the negativity and bullshit rap that's out there", Taboo explains. The good time continues as the crowd parts to allow each member of the group to do a spot of breakdancing. As the head-spinning spectacle takes place, the Peas' backing band shines. And it is very much a band, rather than just hired hands, re-creating familiar samples note perfect.
When the irrepressible Will-I-Am forgets his words mid-rap, not once, but twice, it merely adds to the informal nature of the night. Backing singer Kimmy Kim tells us: "That's the beauty of hip-hop, you never know where it's gonna go."
