Perennial Britrock outsiders and soft targets for unkind rock critics, the stridently unfashionable Marillion have enjoyed a revival in recent years. Having earned broadly positive reviews for their latest album, Somewhere Else, the veteran quintet are likely to secure their highest chart placing for 20 years this weekend with their mellifluous new single Thankyou Whoever You Are. Now in the middle of an extensive European tour, they played to a packed house in Nottingham on Tuesday.

As ever, Marillion provided ammunition for cynics – from the resemblance of its floppy-haired singer Steve Hogarth to the interior-decor guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen to the guitarist Steve Rothery’s irony-free fondness for the kind of twin-necked instrument favoured by Spinal Tap. Even so, the show was a relaxed affair, containing plenty of good-natured banter between band and audience.

When Hogarth fluffed the introduction to an early number, he turned his mistake into a running joke, curtailing every song after ten seconds. The crowd joined in, singing one lyric in its entirety.

Marillion may not possess the edgy glamour of major rock stars but they make the most of the warm personal bond they enjoy with their fans. Indeed, this has been the bedrock of their DIY business model for almost a decade, since they became one of the first bands to harness the direct-marketing potential of the internet.

Musically, Marillion remain an acquired taste. At their worst they are caught in a kind of Life on Mars timewarp, with many of their portentous prog-rock symphonies resolutely stuck somewhere around 1974. Tuesday’s set was peppered with such windy throwbacks, from the grinding stodge of The Other Half to the graceless clatter of Between You and Me. Taken from the new album, Most Toys was perhaps the worst offender, its blustery machismo ill-suited to Hogarth’s unassuming troubadour manner.

But their better songs sounded as elegant and resonant as Coldplay or U2 in their sparkling, chiming prime. The title track to Somewhere Else was a slow-motion beauty and Voice from the Past a pretty, gently cascading waltz. Likewise Easter, one of Hogarth’s first Marillion compositions after replacing the band’s former singer Fish almost two decades ago, was a rousing folk-rock epic.

Ending with a stampede of thunderous guitar anthems, this was an uneven show, occasionally clumsy but never boring. Contrary to received wisdom, Marillion World is not some lost kingdom of extreme naffness, just a pleasantly eccentric diversion off the mainstream musical map.

The Forum, London NW5, tomorrow and Saturday

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