Hometown glory: The Maccabees live in Brighton

Stepping out onto a solemn-looking stage to the accompaniment of penetrating flashes of bright light, they leap head first into the title track from recent LP Marks To Prove It. Tonight (23rd November, Brighton Dome) the quintet's sound is fleshed out by additional percussion, keyboards and brass, helping them to go onto deliver a committed, driven performance that lasts the course of nineteen songs in front of a backdrop displaying their latest album sleeve, featuring London's Elephant and Castle roundabout. Though that area may serve as their current home, tonight they return to a city that once served the same purpose and one that has been instrumental in setting them on a path to what they've now become.

Tonight's performance is one geared as much to the past as it is the present. It sees them delve into their back catalogue to give an airing to such rousing crowd pleasers as previous singles "Wall Of Arms", "Can You Give It?" and "Precious Time", while the darkly spirited and direct "No Kind Words" highlights that the five have another, murkier side to their character.

It's the surprise inclusion of debut single "X-Ray" that drives home how much they have changed since first surfacing in 2005. It’s a song that guitarist Felix White says he remembers playing in the Freebutt - a once active venue that lies just a short walk away - to thirty people some ten years ago. Since that day they've slowly evolved musically; from being a fleet footed, wiry guitar band that wrote songs about swimming pools and first registered on radars at a time when landfill indie was common, they have evolved into a complex, mature rock band, adventurous with melodies and with a deeply texturised sound,

The Maccabees may have evolved, but if tonight proves anything, it's that they've developed in to one of Britains best, most loved bands.

• Photo courtesy of Mike Burnell