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Bates maintained the line with a quip about that giant meteor claimed to be zooming Earthwards. "George Bush said: 'See? I told you the Kyoto accord was useless' and Tony Blair is going to hold the election a week early."

Opening with an appropriate snatch of Thus Spake Zarathustra from Holst's Planets Suite, Delightful Precipice were determined to go down with a bang. Formed 10 years ago and employed only sporadically since, this 18-piece arose from the ashes of Loose Tubes, and several original Tubeadors, including saxophonist Iain Ballamy, trombonist Ashley Slater and flautist Eddie Parker, were among Saturday's featured soloists.

Good as they and tenorist Mark Lockheart were, Bates upstaged them with brief yet brilliant solos on peckhorn (baby tuba) and keyboards. And the skill of his writing, notably ingenious originals like The Loneliness of Being Right, overshadowed everything. The Tightrope, a melodious six-chord sequence for flutes and bass clarinet with a peck-horn solo on top, was a beautiful moment in a sea of whimsy by a remarkably gifted and chronically self-deprecating musician. Bates may look like a dead ringer for Frasier's TV brother Niles, but he is very English indeed.

Django Bates' 50th Birthday Gala