In recent interviews, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith have claimed that Gary Jules' hit version of Mad World was "irrelevent" to their reformation. It seems an unlikely claim, especially when you consider that the cover gave the band their first Top 10 hit for 15 years. The song's potent airing tonight, rising from atmospheric intro to a crescendo of clattering cymbals and grinding guitar, suggests the duo have a point to prove.

Not everything is as impressive. The band's new album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, is a competent but uninspired retread of their early sound, which combined melodic songs with a dark, psychological undertow. They play a fair chunk of it live, but its mannered, rather pedestrian rock doesn't engage either the crowd or the group themselves too much.

Certainly, it's hard to imagine that the notoriously fractious Orzabal and Smith have reformed for the sake of each other's company. Their banter - Smith pretends to forget Orzabal's name, while his partner bemoans his inability to find a dry cleaners - is creaky, and for most of the gig they do their best to ignore each other, taking turns on vocal duties and stage announcements.

The band wisely eschew their 1990s incarnation - when Smith went solo and Orzabal produced a series of increasingly marginal records - for their earlier hits, but have lost something of their poise. Orzabal's voice is as strong as ever, but his attempts to act the rock star - leaning back in abandonment, or swaying to the groove - are half-hearted.

None of this seems to matter to the diehard fans, who spill from their seats to the front of the stage and chant the chorus to Shout while waiting for the encore. Everybody Wants to Rule the World is still a brilliantly wrought pop record, and even encourages a solitary smile between the warring pair.

But you have to wonder why two men so conspicuously bereft of passion are bothering to return to the live arena.