Jo-ann Hodgson reports on a musical high at the university.

MONDAY night at York University witnessed a strange and rare sight, a near empty Vanburgh college bar.

Not surprisingly, this wasn't due to the fact that everyone was busy working in the library. Instead, more than 200 students were packed into the main hall to indulge in a night of Indie rock at the hands of front-runners in the recent rock revolution, Hope Of The States.

At 10pm strobe lights dimmed and heavy melodic guitar riffs began to fill the air as the excitement grew. Support act The Open belted out six of their epic tension-filled songs, flavoured with more than a hint of their heroes U2.

Although only a handful of students were familiar enough with their work to be able to sing along with Liverpudlian front man Steve, as the intensity of the songs built up, so did the exhilaration that rippled through the crowd. Leaving the hall buzzing with anticipation of the next rock installment, The Open departed to the appreciative cheers of new fans.

Squealing violins and the reverb of guitars soon sliced through the tension as a flickering black and white projection announced the arrival of Hope Of The States.

The room erupted as pint-sized front man Sam Herlihy's piercing nasal tones bounced off the walls and the next hour left all in slack-jawed amazement as the band blitzed through their unpretentious, hook-filled rock and roll anthems.

The anti-globalisation and George Bush references in songs such as The Red The White The Black The Blue and Black Dollar Bills fell on sympathetic ears and explained why HOTS have been compared to Radiohead.

The night left all in no doubt that if the bands continued to display the power and self-belief they had witnessed, 2005 would see them topping the charts.

Updated: 16:30 Thursday, November 11, 2004