This was Youssou N’Dour’s second performance at the former Millennium Dome — now a massive mobile phone advert — in less than a year. Last July, as one of the first artists to play at this swish if rather corporate new venue, N’Dour’s new record, Rokku Mi Rokka, was due out but not yet released.

The Senegalese singer relied on his back catalogue and a stunning sequence of acoustic arrangements of his songs, followed by a full-on Dakar-style party set that went on into the small hours.

This year, with the album in the shops and a few sparkling reviews too, the 48-year-old superstar was promoting it with a full band — two keyboards, three percussionists, two guitarists, drums and bass.

As always, N’Dour was in fine voice. But this show, while tight and focused, lacked something. There was energy and exuberance but only occasionally did real passion flash through — notably in the song New Africa, which closed the set before the sequence of encores.

He introduced this hymn to the continent as a song for “a positive Africa” and saluted it with a clenched fist. It was well received by a predominantly expat audience who swayed in the aisles upstairs and danced down below.

While most of the non-initiated will know of N’Dour either through the 1994 hit record Seven Seconds that he made with Neneh Cherry, or his foray into acting (he starred in the film Amazing Grace), it is hard to understate his massive influence and importance in Senegalese culture and African music in general.

His voice soars with an unparalleled clarity and is a rousing force to be reckoned with. But with these new songs the confidence didn’t seem quite so apparent.

Seven Seconds made its obligatory appearance without Ms Cherry — Djanke Djiba took the vocal instead — and it was unremarkable. And the song Wake Up (It’s Africa Calling) from the new record, again co-written with Cherry but sung here by Djiba, had the feeling of a cynical attempt to recreate the success of the former collaboration.

This was a mediocre show from an exceptional talent.