So you're an integral part of the most challenging, life-affirming British pop group in 20 years and it all goes pear-shaped. Two choices, my friend - firstly, you could head toward the rioting fans, tabloid ridicule and potentially embarrassing future on the pro-celebrity golf circuit.fancy that? If not, follow John Hassall's example and chuck down your bass, dust down your brogues and throw down the gauntlet. Drag yourself back to basics, get some mates together, pretend it's the early 60s and have a lovely cup of tea. Perhaps then, you'll be worthy of the adoration showered upon Yeti tonight by a tiny Zodiac crowd.

They really are rather marvellous, and definitely a band you see before you hear - a mess of hair, cheekbones and drainpipe jeans, drifting through the audience during support act The Mardous before charging the stage like a ten-legged skinny little bull, right on queue. John is greeted like an old friend, and the warm welcome extends to his four pals and the pop songs they pedal. These tunes drip with genuine soul, stripped of much of the polish present last time they appeared on this stage to stupendous effect.

The L-word hangs over every song - but it ain't Libertine, it's Liverpool. These chaps clearly find beauty in The Beatles, have enjoyed The Coral's melodic caress and simply love The La's. But crucially they twist it all round and stamp their own mark upon it, putting themselves forward as the best band Liverpool never produced. Debut single 'Never Lose Your Sense Of Wonder' sounds even more magical than on record, while the head-above-water anthem 'Working For The Industry' buzzes with a distrust of the cynical fools who think they make the musical world go round.

'Merrygoround' acts as a message to fallen friends, careful not to attach blame, yet all the while making it clear that your future lies solely in your hands. The undoubted highlight of this evening, and in fact any evening involving Yeti, is 'Insect Eating Man', a gentle acoustic strumalong led by co-frontman Harmony Williams. Rhyming burrito with mosquito and broth with moth might seem pretty straightforward but turning this into something simultaneously heart-warming and hilarious takes a Noel Coward-esque stroke of genius of which Yeti should be proud.

No instruments are trashed and the townsfolk remain un-pillaged, but quietly revolutionary acts are committed tonight. Sweet Yeti, you have our hearts. Far from abominable.

Rob Barker