State of origin? Yes, the Diamond Nights are from New York City, where Willie Mason's man-of-the-match performance probably did not make the briefs let alone the front pages. Nonetheless, it was an appropriate question to ask at the end of this state against state/mate against mate week as the American quartet took to the stage some time after Saturday officially became Sunday.

Before answering the question let's look at the evidence. Lead singer and self-appointed master of ceremonies Morgan Phalen has a skinny, gangly frame, topped off by long shaggy bangs, which clearly is made for no sporting activity other than an 80-minute burst on stage several times a week.

Bass player Seth Rumsey sports a John Newcombe-friendly moustache while drummer Tim Traynor wears, with no apparent irony, a thick orange sweatband around his unruly mane for that Bjorn Borg-meets-fright night look. They are a rhythm section equally eager to charge the net with double-time, meaty metal pounding (Iron Maiden came to mind during It's A Shokka) or sit on the baseline with a swinging fast disco beat.

Lead guitarist Rob Laasko seems to know more riffs than a convention of air guitarists on heat and when joined by Phalen's guitar the pair is capable of channelling Thin Lizzy one minute, Cheap Trick the next, and when the mood takes them both the Cars and the lost punk/pop gems the Only Ones (remember their Another Girl, Another Planet?)

Often bleeding the end of one number into the start of another and usually starkly concise (most songs seemed to come and go in three or four galloping minutes) Diamond Nights were your iPod on shuffle. The Girl's Attractive had a rising damp of '80s synths under the nuggety guitar; Destination Diamonds mixed teenage lust and Van Halen's lighthearted aggression; Snakey Ruth had some swing jazz moves; Saturday Fantastic put choppy chords over a cocksure walk; while Drip Drip topped each cracking riff with another.

So, Diamond Nights' state of origin? The past, and not at all unhappy about it. Our state after a Diamond Nights show? Pretty pleased with the world, thank you very much.