Years of solid touring was clearly no preparation for The Bees when they took to the stage at Alexandra Palace in support of indie pros Embrace.

Looking at them, you're struck by two things immediately: firstly, that they look like a bunch of bored middle class kids who smoked too much and then picked up their guitars and secondly there are so many of them – not quite a swarm but pretty crowded for a group. Hailing from the Isle of Wight and fronted by Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, The Bees debuted in 2002 with their Mercury-Prize nominated album Sunshine Hit Me. After a two-year hiatus, they followed it up with Free The Bees.

As they shuffle around on stage, swapping instruments, a sense of discomfort ripples lightly through the crowd. Ally Pally is not the easiest venues to fill, and performing in what is basically a sprawling shell of a huge warehouse, things either work to your advantage or they don't at all.

They belt out a bunch of jazzy, laid back tunes with echoes of past musical trends. Songs like 'I Love You' are somewhat twee with lyrics such as "Baby it's no lie, I wouldn't make you cry", with Paul Butler crooning away a la bad 50s musical, while 'Chicken Payback' is an inspirational song that makes you want to hand your pint to your mate and do your own version of the chicken dance (not that I do, of course.) It's laid-back yet up-beat pop, with a strangely organic and earthy feel, as if they were inspired not by the hectic troubles of city life or a complex relationship, but by running around an open field with their mates and not a care in the world.

The Bees exude a feeling of fun which is picked up by the crowd, but I can help but imagine that they would be more at home in a muddy tent at a festival or in a room above a pub. The hollowness of such an ambitious venue may not have been the reason for taking the sting out of the Bees' tail but it certainly didn't help.
(2½/5)

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