It all starts rather well. Funeral for a Friend have always claimed to dislike the "emo" label foisted upon them, and, kicking off with current single Into Oblivion (Reunion), the band play to their strengths - hard, shouty rock with a swelling chorus and frantic guitarwork.

The Welsh five-piece work well as a unit, producing a dense racket that hits you in the chest. Singer Matt Davies flings his torso back and lifts his hands to the heavens at regular intervals, while drummer Ryan Richards bellows into his mic and the guitarists bobble enthusiastically on lit podiums. Third album Tales Don't Tell Themselves features a 26-piece orchestra, but live, Funeral for a Friend are more straightforward, all angst and audience participation.

Watching a sea of hands clap under the venue lights is undeniably stirring. But, as every other number includes an exhortation to the crowd to sing along or punch the air, the feeling grows that a not-quite-full Brixton Academy is not the right space for such grandiose theatre - and that the band's sometimes turgid back catalogue doesn't merit such treatment.

The middle of the gig crashes by like an anonymous stranger, its songs falling into an uncomfortable middle ground, not quite hard enough to be strongly visceral or melodic enough to lodge in the head. And when they slow things down, they sound like nothing more than a low-rent Feeder. As Davies works the crowd, patting his heart and gazing meaningfully into the distance, it is hard not to conclude that good intentions can't paper over workmanlike music.

· At Cambridge Corn Exchange tonight. Box office: 01223 357 851.