The Beta Band @ Barrowlands, Glasgow, 26 Sep

The Beta Band have always been something of an oddity. As a new millennium dawned, they were musically omnivorous, offering their own spin on everything from Britpop choruses to the headiness of acid house. Their wildly curious crate-digging drew on everything from folksy psychedelia to samplers and synthesisers, yet they were capable of an earworm chorus too.

Sadly, as quickly as they burst on to the British music scene, they were gone, splitting at the end of a 2004 tour with a trio of albums and an acclaimed trio of EPs under their belts. In their absence, it seems as if hearts have grown fonder. This reunion tour takes them to venues as big or bigger than those they played in their heyday.

Tonight the spirit of eclecticism is on show from the moment you enter the legendary Barrowland Ballroom, with the traditional support act slot filled by Beta Band DJs spinning everything from northern soul to 90s hip-hop, and a stage draped in palm fronds. There’s an additional visual element before the band take the stage too: a series of playful and surreal stop-motion and sped-up clips that cast them as genial pranksters in the countryside.

As David Bowie’s Memory of a Free Festival rings outs, the four members take to the stage, three in coloured jumpsuits but frontman Steve Mason clinging to a rain mac like a Caledonian Liam Gallagher. The start is a little inauspicious, with Inner Meet Me dominated by an overloud bass and Mason adding cowbell and acoustic guitar but perhaps not a lot of melody. Within a few songs, though, the crew manning the sound desk have cleaned up the mix and the crowd can relax into the groove.

She’s the One twists into a hypnotic refrain, while Robin Jones’ drumming regularly moves from metronomic precision to limber baggy workouts. On Needles in My Eyes, Mason swaps to keys, as the video screen shows footage of an earth mover in action. It’s a set that needs to strike a balance between pop melodies and immersive grooves but for much of the first half the audience struggle to settle, with even the simple clap along required for Push It Out, proving too much for many.

As a frontman, Mason is warm and likeable. “You don’t need me to tell you that this is the greatest venue in the world,” he declares at one point, confessing that the band are taking this reunion seriously having just finished four weeks of rehearsals; unfortunately, there are frequent interruptions which spoil the flow of the gig somewhat. Still, even as the band take their time tuning, they do manage to keep things interesting with some creative visuals, which flit from spacemen touching down to surreal tunnels of light and on to what looks a little like a gummy bear rendered in extreme close-up.

Things finally seem to click into place with the appealingly overstuffed Dogs Got a Bone, which features harmonica and congos, accompanied by footage of a charming corgi. But Mason messes up the intro to the next song (Human Being), requiring a restart, and the downtime allows the energy to dissipate.

At a tight 90 minutes this could be a heady rush; at two hours it’s a little strung out. Which is a shame because in fits and starts, it’s clear that The Beta Band are still capable of their leftfield brilliance. Beloved calling card Dry the Rain is sundrenched and stacked with singalong potential and the Barrowlands duly delivers, roaring back the chorus. Yet again, though, there’s a big lull before closer Broke. Lit in black and white, the band duel it out on drums before vanishing backstage for a quick breather.

Re-emerging, they strum through the mostly forgettable I Know, but the set ends on a high note with the loping sampledelic Squares and the closing The House Song with its Beck-like embrace of DJ scratching and fleet percussion. It’s good to have The Beta Band back, but tonight is perhaps not quite the unabashed triumph it could have been.