RATING: See review for respective ratings.
VERDICT: A game of two halves, as they say.

Did somebody get the order of the bands wrong? Rival Schools supporting Nickelback? Oh well. Despite being hampered by a terrible, muddy sound mix (we can pretty much guess who was responsible for that), Rival Schools still manage to blow the cobwebs off the ceiling of the Astoria with their unique brand of tuneful emo-core. Somewhat more accessible than Walter Schreifels’ previous outfit, the criminally underrated Quicksand, Rival Schools are well aware that their main strength lies in the melody. "High Acetate" is so harmonious it comes dangerously close to being a pop record, while "Undercovers On" could almost be considered a hardcore ballad. As Walter concentrates on singing and supplying the essential fuzz guitar and chugging riffs, Ian Love adds impressionistic flurries of effects-laden guitar licks, working pedals and mini-theremin like a master painter of sound. The poor sound mix unfortunately sees "Take One For The Team" getting lost in the air between the speakers and the ears. No such problem for the more dynamic numbers, though, which hammer their way through the hall. "Used For Glue" is a throwback to everything that made Quicksand so great, "The Switch" a slap in the face with a piece of raw muscle. The instrumental "Hooligans For Life" simply rages. It looks like it’s time for Rival Schools to break out of the underground (8 out of 10).

"Wankers" is the first word that comes to mind as Nickelback take to the stage. At least three members of the band are sporting orange cowboy boots with what appear to be Cuban heels. One of them is wearing a white cowboy hat. Choad, sorry, Chad Kroeger is wearing these weird-looking flared jeans. There are Def Leppard T-shirts in the audience. The fashion police need to be alerted.

Although this is essentially a club date for a band who probably haven’t played anywhere smaller than a billion-seater enormo-dome for at least 12 months, they still act like they’re playing at Wembley Stadium. It’s that "Hello London! How the fuck are ya?" mentality. The answer being, "We were fine, thanks, until you lot showed up." The drums are pitched up on a riser as high as Everest. At each side of the stage are platforms on which the rest of the band can stand when they want to feel important (this happens with alarming regularity). But hey, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, so we’ll get right on and judge Nickelback by their music. Well, never have we heard such dull, lifeless post-grunge nonsense in our lives. (Actually, we have. We’ve heard Creed.) Nickelback are the sound of Bon Jovi covering Metallica’s "Load" album. That is all you need to know. Honestly, we cannot stop yawning during their set. Their pomposity would be funny if they didn’t take themselves so seriously. As it is, they are a very short step away from disappearing up their own arses, steeped in the misguided belief that commercial success has something to do with talent. We almost manage a smile when they play "Never Again". They save the world conquering HIT for the end. We decide that Creed may be dreadful but they aren’t half as bad as we first thought. Blame Canada (2 out of 10).