What a difference a Mercury nomination makes, as frontwoman Ninja discovers when she bounces on to the stage to announce "We're The Go! Team," and the Astoria erupts in wild cheers. "It's weird," says the diminutive pop pioneer, examining her swollen fan base, "a while ago we'd have to shout our name and people would be like, what?"

Now, admirers of the Brighton-based six-piece are squashed into one of London's larger venues, with touts outside still clamouring for tickets. Despite not winning the award, the Go! Team's party is only just beginning.

And they would have got away with it tonight if it hadn't been for sound problems. Perhaps it's the Astoria effect, which turns any band into a rock band. The tinniest guitar frequencies win out and the weirder, more subtle sounds drown, which is a crying shame because the Go! Team have really nothing to do with howling axes and everything to do with chinky, chunky sound effects. Imagine Sesame Street skipping rhymes leading into cheerleading chants; the tragic parts from the Lassie soundtrack merged with the epic moments from Knots Landing. It's as if all the best bits of American popular culture have been squashed into a picnic hamper and then burst open live on stage.

The backdrop turns into a starry sky for The Ice Storm, with lights and colours flashing on the video during its long, sad, instrumental journey. Things speed up later when a team of Vicky Pollard-style dancers burst on stage in matching red tracksuits. "We want to see some booty shaking," says Ninja, and fans down the front comply through Panther Dash and Bottle Rocket, while those at the back desperately try to see what's going on.