As if Charlie Simpson's battle against the legacy of Busted wasn't enough, on the night of Fightstar's much anticipated - by Simpson, at least - Astoria gig, guitarist Alex Westaway isn't well. "The man on my right woke up this morning with food poisoning," Simpson says, gesturing to Westaway. "But it wasn't going to stop him playing for you."

It does, however, prevent Westaway from shaking his head to Fightstar's grinding rock as furiously as Simpson and bass player Dan Haigh. Like nodding dogs resting on the dashboard of Michael Schumaker's Ferrari, they toss their tousled blond locks with practised ease, while Westaway has to content himself with hanging low over his guitar, a synchronised move that marks the band's emo moments.

That Simpson makes a point of Westaway's predicament proves what a tight band the year-old Fightstar have become. Theirs is no Disney-envisioned rock. It's heavy on the riffs, the hard-edged rhythms punctuated by Simpson's rasping yells and Westaway's harmonies.

Propelled by drummer Omar Abidi, cloaked in lasers and strobe lighting, they hurtle through debut album Grand Unification, each climactic song awash with guitars that plunge in and out of the spiralling melodies with a bit of grace and a lot of gleeful angst.

Simpson's previous stock in trade, pop, is only glimpsed through the cracks in his new armour. The influence of Nirvana is obvious in the riotous punk of Until Then, but Grand Unification Part II sees Simpson playing a keyboard and sounding more like Chris Martin.

It's Simpson's niceness that undermines Fightstar's determined darkness. Though his T-shirt reads "Lowlife", he follows every thunderous roar with a polite "Thank you very much," without pausing for breath. When he repeatedly asks the mosh-pit to "fucking jump" it's a sweet entreaty, not a dirty demand. Simpson's had the gumption to leave his past behind. Now Fightstar just need the spirit to embrace their golden future.