Goldfinger and Reel Big Fish at Transmission Room

Bare butts, flaming cymbals, orgy stage dives - if you didn't have a good time at the Crouching Fish, Hidden Finger Tour, you're more mature than me.

SoCal bands Goldfinger and Reel Big Fish have been friends for years but their sell-out gig at the Transmission Room on Wednesday night felt like a contest as to who could out-rock, out-sweat and out-entertain the other.

Goldfinger made their dramatic entrance first, filing in to The Final Countdown and owning the place straight away.

Frontman John Feldmann was almost evangelical: arms open, eyes wider than a pumped-up Tony Robbins.

Recovering from an off-balance sound mix, the band thrashed out a typically tight performance of crowd-pleasers - Here in Your Bedroom, Superman, 99 Red Balloons - plus songs from their new album, Disconnection Notice, although Feldmann seemed more keen to incite social revolution than an ordinary riot.

The fact he hates President Bush was no sweeping statement - his house was raided by the FBI.

It was all very entertaining, particularly when he and the g-stringed drummer Darrin Pfeiffer swapped places, although some of their swaggering rock felt staged, as though years of gigging had taken their toll - they were amping for the crowd to have a good time rather than just letting it happen.

Even so, Reel Big Fish, who looked more like liberal uni students than seasoned punk-rockers, couldn't have asked for a better warm-up.

Frontman Aaron Barrett continued the upbeat mood with banter that would characterise the rest of their frantic performance, making sly reference to the band's last New Zealand gig when they played Sublime - this time he announced it as a cover rather than risking another round of heckling.

If this really had been a contest, RBF had the instant advantage of being a bigger band.

The added dimension of the horn section instantly livened things up, and they came on louder and brasher than their Goldfinger friends.

Charging through favourites Everything Sucks, She's Famous Now, the suitably aggressive In the Pit and relatively unknown material from new album We're Not Happy Til You're Not Happy, RBF were the winners on the night, their skanking grooves, Latina jazz solos and raucous energy emanating all the way up the stairs.