Arrested Development

Large venues can be tricky - crowds that fall short of adjectives like 'massive', 'thronging' or just plain 'rammed' make things feel very empty indeed. It's probably something to do with the high ceilings, but since Arrested Development aren't architects we won't hold that against them. Tonight's turnout for the influential hip hop group's only Scottish date on this tour may be sparse, but if the Atlanta septet are fazed by this they hide it well behind a facade of joyous dynamism.

Tonight's audience is small, barely breaking the 300 mark, but they're a decidedly enthusiastic bunch. As the band strut from the wings and the first bars of 'We Rad, We Doin' It' kick in, they crowd the stage and commence the dancing that becomes tonight's trademark. Racing through 'The World Is Changing' and 'Fishin' 4 Religion' with barely a pause in sight, it's this infectious energy that make Arrested Development so watchable.

The cornerstone factor in their success tonight is technical in nature. The band avoid over-dependence on samplers and turntables, instead delegating beat-production duties primarily to drummer Rasadon and bassist Za. The live instrumentation – a laudable feature of the 'alternative' hip hop milieu – adds a layer of warmth to the sound; a richness often absent from synthesized rhythms. Sometimes it works against them - the extended drum and bass solos in the encore are a little self-indulgent - but it's hard to fault the musicianship.

Speech is a skilled band-leader, flitting between soulful vocals and slick rapping and flirting with the crowd between songs, while One Love's excursions away from the decks give him a chance to show off his unparalleled flow. Backing vocalists Montsho Eshe and Tasha Larae bring the show's melodic soul, shining on chorus-heavy tracks like 'Haters', but they're almost under-used at times. Equally, when the band lean too heavily on their less polished early material they start to lose momentum; 'Tennessee' feels hollow, and 'Ease My Mind''s repetitive refrain doesn't quite do what it should.

But these are small blemishes on a superlative performance. It's difficult to distil all that an evening is into a single sentiment, but at its heart tonight is an energetic reaffirmation of what makes Arrested Development so important: an intelligent, optimistic and honest approach to the hip hop genre.