THE Beta Band burst on to the music scene at the end of the 90s with three brilliant eps of acoustic rock, hip hop beats and vocal harmonies.

Since then the Scottish quartet has, in the critic's opinion, dropped off the pace, dismissing their debut album as 'rubbish' and shying away from the media attention.

In concert they arrive clad in matching navy blue boiler suits and adopt the Ajax football philosophy - that everyone can play in each others position - constantly changing from one instrument to another.

Initially the band appeared a little short of practise, and it showed. This was the start of their first UK tour for two years.

Mason's mumblingly melodic vocals and repetitive acoustic strumming, a feature of their sound on record, was drowned out by a mix heavily favouring the rhythm section.

It was only midway through the set that they hit their stride with a note perfect rendition of Squares and a beautifully intimate Dog's Got A Bone.

The band eventually began to produce a compelling wall of sonic noise built on persistent guitar riffs, funky drumming and seagull samples.

And the gig climaxed with Mason jumping onto a second drum kit to help drummer, Robin Jones, bash out the final bars of a fantastic version of Broke - concluding a patchy but sporadically brilliant evening.