Review | Cranes reunion show at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: "When the band hit their stride, it's hypnotic"

So when they announced that they would be reforming to play a London date to mark the 30th anniversary of their cult classic album Forever, with the line-up that played on the album – a line-up which hadn't played together in 25 years, it was no surprise that it sold out quick smart.

A hometown warm-up date was soon added for The Wedge. And while it also sold out, curiously it only sold out on the day of the gig.

Sadly fate intervenes and we don't quite get the promised band members – guitarist Matt Cope has had to withdraw and is replaced by Paul Smith. But as another former long-term Crane it's as good a substitution as you could expect.

The band come on to little fanfare with a slow-burning version of Forever's Cloudless, which builds around frontwoman Alison Shaw's still distinctive child-like vocals and her brother Jim Shaw's pounding drums.

While this is a gig to mark Forever's anniversary they don't opt for the "play it in full" route - but the setlist does lean heavily on the album and the releases around it from their commercial heyday in the '90s.

One of the things that used to confound critics about Cranes was how to pigeonhole their sound – dream-pop, goth, art-rock, shoegaze? In reality they are all of this and more – Da Da 331 rides on a grinding groove while Sun and Sky – and several others – feature squa lling feedback from the twin guitar attack. Often heavier than on record, when the band hit their stride, it's hypnotic.

There are a few technical gremlins with some of the electronics – Everywhere has to be abandoned after two false starts with Alison saying apologetically: "We'll come back to that...", but they don't.

Still, in front of this most partisan of crowds they are forgiven these stumbles. And after all, isn't this what warm-up shows are for?

Jewel, their top 30 single from 1993, gets probably the biggest cheer of the night.

The encores finish with Starblood, which dates back to their earliest demos, and it provides a dizzying ride to the finish line.

Beyond the London show later this month and one more booked in for next May, it's not known what the band's plans are (if any), but this was a timely reminder of an important act in the city's music history.