If Eels's last album, Electro-shock Blues, was ideal listening for a stay in a mental hospital, then their new offering, Daisies of the Galaxy, conjures up a post-psychotic pastoral. Front-man E's lyrics have lost none of their pathos, but the music is richer and dreamier, and the slower songs evolve on the understanding that a lullaby has to be healthier than lithium.

So it was no surprise to see that the capacity crowd was fully seated when the "Eels Orchestra" took the stage. Lurking in a lounge-bar soft green mist, the ensemble boasted a violinist, a stetson-wearing drummer, a double-bass player, and a two-man wind and brass section, one of whom was dressed as Father Christmas.

When not playing his acoustic or electric guitar E was at the piano, sitting with his back to the audience, his lazy, croaky vocals resonant against the diverse percussion. Indeed, the lavish arrangements threatened to become soporific. It's rare to attend a gig where, for the first 30 minutes at least, so many people were offering to go to the bar.

My Beloved Monster startled a few slumbering souls with its manic snatches of electric guitar and brass, but the momentum was soon lost to a clap-along Ant Farm. Thankfully, the deliberately elegiac Daisies of the Galaxy was more successful, while the fruity single, Mr E's Beautiful Blues, finally got a few people to their feet. Yet an acoustic and kettledrum rendition of Novocaine for the Soul was disappointing, and a cover version of Can't Help Falling in Love only bemused the audience further.

Group therapy never works with such big numbers.

• Dominion Theatre, London (0171-580 1889), tonight.