Rewind twelve months and The Feeling were being tipped to take 2006 by storm. As it turned out, their anthemic soft rock was no match for skinny boy indie, but at the start of a three night stint at Shepherds Bush Empire, they couldn’t have been too cut up at how the year has turned out.

Twelve Stops To Home, their debut album, has shifted close to 400,000 copies since its release in June and, judging by the adoring crowd, their fans regard them as more than a fad.

The breezy, harmonic, stomp-along rock of opener I Want You Now set off the dancing and, for the next 80 minutes, it rarely stopped. What The Feeling’s melodic music lacked in edge or depth, it made up for with a shiny, feel good factor typically found in top teen pop. Songs culled almost exclusively from Twelve Stops... never came close to current perceptions of cool, but boy, were they fun to tap your feet and sing along to.

Led by clean-cut singer and occasional guitarist Dan Gillespie Sells, the London-born band began their career five years ago as Superfly and honed their technique playing rock versions of ‘70s and ‘80s pop classics at a club in an Alpine ski village.

The name change accompanied a desire to make original music, but their old influences were stamped heavily on their songs. Supertramp’s Breakfast In America was the most obvious, but ELO and Elton John weren’t far behind. Even when the piano was pounding, three guitars were in play and the drummer crashed cymbals between every two beats, The Feeling’s rock felt on the fluffy side. A souped-up cover of Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio star was included not for its novelty value, but because it slotted easily in to the set.

Occasionally, tracks treaded too carefully - as though sections had been assembled to appeal as widely as possible. Jaunty former single Fill My Little World slipped in soft guitar solos where they weren’t necessary, while Sells briefly handed vocals to his jumper-clad drummer simply for effect.

Yet at their best, The Feeling produced glorious, soaring songs devoid of atmospherics, but soaked in soul. Rosé began as a pure piano ballad before bursting in to life, Never Be Lonely switched from its insanely catchy chorus to clever, pretty, multi-layered parts and Sewn sounded like patchwork pop classic destined for a decades of radio play.

Sure, there was enough cheese to feed a family of mice until The Feeling’s next album arrives - Sells donning a Butlins-style, red coat to play piano centre stage, or a mirrorball sending shards of lights across the Empire while mobile phones were waved in the air - but it was all part of the MOR party. If The Feeling are in it for the long haul, however, they would do well to keep that side of their show in check. Or at last save it until a few weeks closer to Christmas.