Good Charlotte were the poster boys of the so called pop –punk movement, with a following of pre-pubescent girls in too much eyeliner they had everything to prove in order not to sink into oblivion like many of their peers.

Four albums later the Maryland quintet (albeit the drummer is from Manchester) is still able to fill Brixton Academy to a sold out audience of devotee that has been queuing since the early hours of the morning.

The Madden twins, in a philanthropic way that seems to be the in thing, let Linchpin and The beat Union (Close friends and part of their record label) open for them, but the 5000 plus crowd is waiting for them and not even the drunken cheers of some lads from the back can masquerade the fact that the bulk of GC audience is made up of those girls that used to steal their mom’s eyeliner to look more punk.

Truth to be told the band is able to put up a minimalist show that suits the frigid electronica of their latest album. The lights are acid greens and yellow and there is a metronomic precision in Billy Martin’s guitar playing that is beautiful to watch and reveals that the band is not just made of pretty faces, but competent musicians that have been allowed to grow under the spotlight.

The new album is filled with electro-bits and dance floor anthem for a slightly dejected generation and they are instant hit, with the crowd singing word by words; The classics still raise the biggest cheer and “The Festival Song” from their debut album is the song that gets the kids really going, but this is not just a gig to remember the past, it’s really a celebration of a successful story.

GC has reinvented themselves without loosing their true spirit; mixing a youthful, careless attitude, an ear for impossibly catchy tunes and new found maturity, GC has built up a following that seems to be able to grow with them and allow them to try new things and get out of the place they were originally pigeon holed.

Tonight they show that they are still able to entertain, without being repetitive and self indulgent, they still look like they are having fun and so are their fans.

by Laila