When Jose Gonzalez was last in town, he was forced to crack a weary smile as a punter threw a bright green ball on stage during the opening chords of Heartbeats.

Having risen to fame via a Sony advertising campaign which sent his subtle melodies bouncing down a San Francisco street with dozens of coloured balls, to many this Argentinian-born singer-songwriter is still "the coloured ball man".

But this time, at least, the cheeky fans will have further to throw.

Gonzalez's cover of the The Knife song Heartbeats was one of those tracks which eclipses the product it's meant to be advertising - in this case, a Sony Bravia TV.

A top five hit (as was the album, Veneer) in the past six months it has propelled him from the intimacy of the Hanbury Ballroom, via the Concorde 2, to the nearly 2000 capacity Dome Concert Hall.

"I guess for the people sitting in the back, it will be a different experience,"

he giggles, shyly. "But for me, musicwise, it will be the same. In a way, I need to deliver more in bigger venues and I will have some video projections but then I'm still sitting in the same chair - not literally but, what do you call it, figuratively?"

Shaded with the rhythms of samba and bossa nova, Gonzalez's classical guitar style is graceful and meditative. Like the music of his Nordic contemporaries Kings Of Convenience, it is, you'd expect, best enjoyed in intimate surroundings.

But Gonzalez has already notched up one of the world's biggest concerts playing to a hockey stadium in Gothenburg in support of none other than the Dalai Lama.

"The sound just bounced everywhere and became big, like a cathedral," he recalls. "The Dalai Lama was standing by the side of the stage and was smiling."

Although Veneer, with its bewitchingly gentle vocals and eloquent finger picking, showcased a very particular style of spine-tingling songwriting, Gonzalez's musical interests are surprisingly broad.

His father, who helped him to learn his first chords, was an Argentinian folk singer with a love of The Beatles.

For six years, Gonzalez was the bassist in a hardcore punk band and when he can, he still records with the trio Junip, adding his guitar and vocals to organ, moog synth and drums.

But if his solo success proves shortlived (in Sweden Veneer has been knocking around for three years and it still makes up the bulk of his set), Gonzalez has another passion to fall back on: Biochemistry.

"I did my Masters and started my Phd but when I released my album, it was put on the shelf," he says. "Biochemistry is all about molecules colliding. At school, I liked all the colourful pictures of proteins - it is coloured balls again!

"When the fourth or fifth album isn't working, that's when I maybe think about going back to molecules."

Starts at 7pm, tickets cost £15.50 and £13.50. Call 01273 709709.