Air were on this evening supported by a guitarist who might have been called Sebastian. He and his accomplice on stage took just two 'songs' to get much of the back rows crying with laughter as they (seemingly unwittingly) created noises which were more reminiscent of the bovine than the divine; that is to say they were truly horrendous. Most people were still at the bar, making messes with the Albert Hall's pristine white tablecloths and stubbing out fags on the seats - decorous this lot were not.

We returned from the bar to find that - thankfully - the guitarist and friend had left and it wasn't much longer before Air turned up. They played most of '10,000Hz Legend' and a few older tracks, including an inexplicably downbeat Sexy Boy which might have been better called Sleepy Boy considering the lack of energy with which it was offered. The lights swivelled and swayed, making the standing audience in the pit look like they were moving, but they of course weren't. Elsewhere people shuffled and wandered around. Someone nearby remarked that just putting the album on very loud on a decent stereo would have been more enjoyable, for at least you could do something else at the same time.

The music is of course mighty fine. Much of it brings to mind Pink Floyd, circa The Division Bell, in terms of beat and uses for vocoders, vocal harmonies and synths. Even with Jason Falkner turning up to sing his bit, however, there was really very little to look at and, with such music, there was consequently little to hold the interest of the audience. All of which was somewhat surprising for a band as well established as Air; you'd have thought they'd know what to do to get an audience into their music. Probably they still suffer from being an instrumental band, guest vocalists and vocoders notwithstanding.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees