A designer nightclub in increasingly fashionable Brick Lane didn't feel quite the right venue for the shrieking, high-energy blast of Young Heart Attack, who had travelled far from their base in Austin, Texas. Some listeners claim to have detected hints of Guns N' Roses in the Heart Attack sound, but with his frizzy fair hair and a voice like starving alley-cats, guitarist/vocalist Chris Hodge is more like the result of a cloning experiment involving AC/DC's Bon Scott and Zeppelin's Robert Plant. Throw in a handful of Lynyrd Skynyrd's good ole boogie and you're close. Most of the lyrics went Awol in the band's pummelling sonic barrage, but it didn't make much difference.

Nothing to Lose was frantic and intense, while Sick of Doing Time hurtled past in a punkish frenzy. Take Me Back featured a chorus veering perilously close to pop. No matter, because the Attack's message is in the way they do it as much as in what they do. Fat, throaty riffs alternated with greasy, chugging rhythms, which felt like being buried under a collapsing wall of powerchords.

The anomaly in the Heart Attack mixture is Jennifer Stephens, who is more than a backing vocalist but not quite a lead singer, and looks as though she yearns to slip into something more comfortable (a few recognisable melodies, perhaps).

Earlier, there was a convincing display from The Glitterati on a mission to prove that hard rock doesn't have to be as drab as a wet Tuesday in Scunthorpe. Led by small but feisty vocalist Paul Gautrey, they defied exploding amplifiers and technical glitches to rip through a volley of their soon-to-be-greatest hits. Do You Love Yourself gripped like a rabid bull terrier, while Still Thinking About You exuded chunky funkiness.