Like charity work and roughage, art rock is extremely worthwhile but not usually much fun. No one summons Radiohead when in need of a thorough knees-up, and New Yorkers TV On The Radio have often been tagged their dour transatlantic counterparts.

Perhaps bored of all the chin-stroking, or newly hot-blooded after guitarist Dave Sitek produced an album for actress Scarlett Johansson, the quintet have finally located their dancing shoes.

Latest album Dear Science, their fourth, has a serious dose of the funk and dominated proceedings at a show that was equally inspired.
Becoming more accessible did not mean retreating towards the obvious. As they limbered up with opening track Young Liars, bassist Gerard Smith played on his knees with his back to the crowd, singer Tunde Adebimpe jingled sleigh bells and whistled, and Sitek played on the floor with wind chimes attached to the neck of his guitar.

The keystones of funk pop were referenced, with Red Dress having some of Prince’s light, choppy guitar, and the bass groove of Golden Age recalling Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. Sitek had his own style, too, frequently stepping on an effects pedal, blurring his right hand and leaning backwards as though unbalanced by the power of his instrument.

Adebimpe was most watchable, wriggling, jittering and violently rotating his free arm as he veered from a soulful falsetto to a howl. He was let down by a crowd that failed to reflect the energy on stage, especially upstairs, even though the frantic rhythms of tracks such as Dancing Choose offered little choice but to dance.

As they charged to a close and Sitek started playing Jaleel Bunton’s drums from the front, they looked like they were having a ball. Whatever has transformed them, they should sell it at the T‑shirt stand.