In the middle of their show, A's cheery singer, Jason Perry, announces his favourite part of the performance, the "pantomime section". Seconds later he has managed to coax a thousand leaping teenagers into yelling "jump". Then the lights reveal the pandemonium induced by one of A's big choruses.
It could be a scene straight from the heyday of the Bay City Rollers. "There's nothing wrong with fun," beams Perry. Indeed, A are a timely reminder that pop can be immensely enjoyable if - or because - it doesn't take itself too seriously.
A's story would make a Carry On caper or an episode of Spinal Tap. They started five years ago with a mixture of rock hooks, weird beards, cartoon lyrics and songs with titles such as Cheeky Monkeys. Inevitably, they became huge in Japan and Finland while Britain clasped its nose. But thanks to the current rock renaissance, A are being welcomed home like intrepid explorers. Their new single, Nothing (atypically, a Limp Bizkit soundalike), crashed into the top 10.
With grins like Cheshire cats, they deliver their punk-pop anthems. There is nothing new about them, and even a dog could sing along with practice. There is something curiously innocent about A's music: if Slade had grown up in the 1990s on a diet of skateboards and Green Day, they would have sounded like this.
The more mature moments from third album Hi-Fi Serious are kept to a minimum. When the crowd appear bemused by the Police-like Going Down, an uncharacteristic muse on death, Perry says, "Thanks for clapping. If you didn't clap, you were cool."
Perry is the band's trump card. He is not a great singer - imagine a rawer Sting - but his sense of devilment carries A. He sings about the joys (and otherwise) of being in the band. He's no Byron, but it takes a certain talent to rhyme "in the shit" with "hurt a bit". Spike Milligan would have loved him.
A key song is Starbucks - as in "don't want your job in Starbucks". If the rock phase ends and the band wind up back in the lives they escaped, it would be an honour to have a mocha poured by A.
· A play Liverpool University (0151-256 5555) tonight, then tour.
