Tuesday 19/11/02 Voodoo Glow Skulls, Goldfinger, A @ The Lomax, Liverpool

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My body is aching from Manchester University residences' concrete floors and my stomach is still churning from the weekend; Voodoo Glow Skulls are on stage "performing". This is music journalism…

A purple haired annoying girl (name intentionally forgotten) on the bus home insisted that the Glow Skulls have lyrics, and that many were singing along at the front, to every word. From my position all I could hear were a number of alternating grunts and "roars". Oooooooh the feeling! The angst! The pretentious teenage "look I like obscure and difficult to get into music" - Fuck Marilyn Manson from now on I'm going to play this loud to irritate my parents.

Oh what now, a green alien dancing around the stage? Shit is this gonna get better? The annoying girl tells me they're the only Latino ska band around, oh well thank fuck for that - wow they did just get better, apparently this is their last song. Rock. Honestly, at least you can watch Terracide without wanting to projectile vomit your stomach contents on to the stage - and trust me that had nothing to do the hangover.

At least Goldfinger are going to be entertaining, right? The friends I'm with keep saying they are but if they're anything like Voodoo Glow Skulls I'm going to be gauging my inner ears out and feeding them to Andy for sending me to this.

Well if this is the Inner City Sumo Tour then Goldfinger have just won the title. Oh yes, a punk cover of the Cure's 'Just Like Heaven' as their opening shot, and a pretty good one at that. I don't care that they're like every other Californian punk band or that I'll never buy their music; these guys are rocking my Mark and Spark's socks; not only this, but I'm wetting myself with laughter too, as they do their damn best to get the crowd involved. At one point inviting a member of the crowd to eat a Mars Bar out of their man-tit afflicted drummer's ass. Watching in part horror, part amusement as the kid (no more than 16) actually did it!

Oh well, after this ten minute distraction they go on to smash their way through their main hit 'Superman' before covering '99 Red Balloons'. All in all an interesting way to pause between your main set and encore. Their set equalled that of A's so it's a wonder their name didn't make it onto the ticket, unfairer still when you consider just how good they were in context. Not only how good they were, but just how nice they were, stopping and talking to the mob between songs and throwing enough from the stage to construct your own drum kit. Marching out from their final song in true Rammstein style - drum kit on fire and military guitars they confirmed their brilliance not necessarily as original musicians but as entertainers, I don't care if you hate punk, I don't care if you hate rock, I don't care if your idea of a night out is to munch as many pills as you can before dancing to DJ whoever vs. DJ someone else. These guys aren't original but they are a class act and you should certainly try to see them.

During their set John Feldmann apologised that he was a "shit guitarist". Saying that he proved any one could be in a rock band if they wanted to. To prove the point - insert band A.

If I hadn't been at this gig to review it I'd have gone home half way through this - in A's defence their singer Jason Perry has always annoyed me with his high pitched Americanised voice and whilst people have raved that it has taken a number of albums and continuous touring for near six years before their Hi-fi Serious album really launched their career I've always felt obscurity and eventual break-up should have remained their fate.

Lacking any stage presence at all until their final few songs, A did little but bore me. I can't say their music was terrible on a Voodoo Glow Skulls scale because they just didn't get me involved at all. Perhaps something to do with a later diagnosed bowel problem for Perry.

Their initial burst of songs sounded like one long pop-rock mush with the only exception being single 'Starbucks' notable only because they announced the title before playing it.

Later on as A began to get more into what they were doing the guitarist seemed to spasm in some kind of epileptic guitar thrashing fit which unfortunately ended after about fifteen seconds. Basic "Hello Liverpool's" were converted into some chat as a member of the crowd threw a personalised A Arsenal top on stage much to their delight. Later a Domino's Pizza cap exchanged hands for a tenner. All very amusing perhaps? Well no not really, they just couldn't match the previous act.

It's always a painful experience watching a headline act try to out do their support whilst failing miserably and watching A did feel painful. Literally during 'I Love Lake Tahoe', fake snow machines caused minor respiratory problems with those of us that had colds. Rounding off with break-through single 'Nothing' I can honestly say I felt relief that it was all over. A are not a band I will ever bother to see again and how they've come to headlining Brixton this week I will never understand.