Bolshie piano and guitar riffs, big hair and a liberal dose of charm are Toploader's characteristics. The British five-piece offer a raucously chipper antidote to indie miserabilism and, as they swagger onstage to a rapturous reception, it's evident that they're loved for it.
Few other contemporary rockers, aside from America's Ben Folds Five, would put keyboards centre-stage. Not only are they integral to Toploader's music, from crashing bluesy piano effects to spiralling northern soul-style melodies, they also offset the outfit's animated performance. As his bandmates reel and pogo around him, Joseph Washbourn remains seated to sing and play, like some super-funky Joe Jackson. He bashes out tunes with one hand and gesticulates with the other, then leaps to his feet to throttle a tambourine.
Washbourn proudly introduces "the one that got it started for us": the Motown cover Dancing in the Moonlight, which has the crowd punching the air and noisily proving they know the words. Bathed in a mirrorball's swirling illumination, the theatrical setting suddenly resembles some kind of beautiful school disco.
Showcasing much of this year's acclaimed debut album, Onka's Big Moka, Toploader offer upbeat tunes with simple themes, such as Let the People Know, and Just Hold On, laced with Washbourn's powerfully drawling, earnest words of encouragement.
And so sweetly enamoured are they of their native Eastbourne ("the blue-rinse capital of the world"), that they've written a new song about it, This is Our Home.
Rock music can be as formulaic as any bubblegum pop, and there's little deviation from Toploader's retro-flavoured ingredients, even with a couple of ballads and country rock-themed new number Leave Me Be thrown in. That said, these proficient musicians muster a convincing soulfulness that elevates them well above Ocean Colour Scene-style beery singalongs.
By the time they launch into their blustering, strobe-lit finale with Achilles Heel, it's hard to tell who's more excited - the audience or the band themselves.
