Hard rock has always had its moments of poignancy, but in the Darkness's case, they're mainly inadvertent. The band's London comeback abounded with them: darts of unintentional tragedy that occurred whenever the show seemed on the verge of getting airborne. Should Justin Hawkins and his hairy men wonder (reportedly, they do) why they are viewed with a mixture of hilarity and bemusement, they could do worse than to watch a video of this gig.

Seeing them here, promoting their new album that peaked at 11 last autumn and isn't even in the chart this week - their brief run of platinum discs and Brit Awards appears to be over - you felt persistent tugs at the heartstrings.

The Darkness got up many noses at the height of their success in 2003, when debut album Permission to Land punched its way to 3m sales, but even those who dismissed them as catsuit-clad, falsetto-embellished novelties would feel for them now.

There was the Lighter Moment: a request for lighters to be waved to the power ballad Love Is Only a Feeling resulted in a show of about five flames. There was the Pant Moment: Hawkins stripped off his frothy white shirt to reveal what even he referred to as a "gut", but he had to hitch up his trousers to keep them from sagging. This wouldn't have happened to Michael Hutchence.

It is Hawkins who both makes and breaks the Darkness. The other three members who aren't him would blend into the background of any metal band, screechy when they need to be, unobtrusive otherwise. Hawkins, though, part circus ringmaster, part schoolboy fantasist. The crowning moment of this perversely entertaining show wasn't the hit I Believe in a Thing Called Love, but the encore, English Country Garden. Playing a pipe organ that emitted puffs of smoke, Hawkins turned, smiling anxiously. Your heart went out to him. Maybe that's how he'd planned it.

· At Hallam Arena, Sheffield (0114- 256 5656), on Saturday, then touring.