Watching Swedish upstarts Crashdïet open this ozone-unfriendly triple bill of glam metal in Nottingham Rock City, it's as if autumn 1991 ('till about half an hour ago) never happened. Crashdïet look like Mötley Crüe, sound like Mötley Crüe and no doubt terrorise women backstage like Mötley Crüe. Hell, they even have an umlaut in their grammatically incorrect moniker. The only thing they're missing is the Crüe's ability - or at least former ability - to pen choruses more infectious than hepatitis. The Stockholm-based four-piece bring little new to the party, but then neither do the guys they're ripping off any more. So, if Nikki Sixx and co ever decide that hauling the same 15 songs around the nostalgia circuit is no longer worth the cash, then this lot, Reckless Love and Vains of Jenna can claw one another to the death for the mantle of new public enemies number one. And with Crashdïet's proven doggedness - they've survived the suicide of founder vocalist Dave Lepard and the departure of the rest of the original members - my money's on the Swedes.

As Rock City fills up, it's easy to notice the breakdown of the crowd. This double headliner between rejuvenated erstwhile Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe and teen-approved goth-metal-horror-punk pin-up Wednesday 13 of Murderdolls infamy has pulled a roughly even split of leathery, lived-in '80s stalwarts and black-haired, pale-skinned, pierced-up arm-slashers. It's one big, happy, hirsute family, and it's gratifying to see each camp giving the time of day to an act they might not be too familiar with. The youngsters certainly seem impressed by Monroe's energetic antics. Despite pushing 50 and now resembling the skeleton from the old Scotch videotape ads in a Dolly Parton wig, the Helsinki-born singer careers around the stage with the gusto of a maniac half his age. Bassist and fellow Hanoi alumnus Sami Yaffa maintains an effortless cool next to him, while guitarists Steve Conte (ex-New York Dolls) and Dregen (Backyard Babies) deal the riffs stage left and right respectively. Behind them, bandana-clad drummer Karl 'Rockfist' Rosqvist lives up to his nickname.

Opening with three tracks from Monroe's latest solo album, the rapturously received 'Sensory Overdrive', the group set out their stall from the start. 'Trick of the Wrist', 'Got Blood?' and 'Modern Day Miracle' get the ball rolling; ''78', 'Superpowered Superfly' and 'Bombs Away' smash it out of the park. This is no greatest hits slog - at least half the set is culled from the new release, with a smattering of gems from Monroe's past. Hanoi's 'Back to Mystery City' and Demolition 23's 'Hammersmith Palais' in particular are a lot of fun, but it's nice to see a veteran star having such faith in his new work. And it works. The performance is far fresher and more urgent than when this writer saw Hanoi going through the motions in Rock City in 2006. Much has been made of Monroe's influence on Axl Rose and the Finn's lowly placing in the rock hierarchy. But if being rich and famous leads to 'Chinese Democracy', and being broke and obscure gives us mad-eyed Mike rocking the mic, sax and harmonica like a bastard, then praise be for tough breaks. Early solo classic 'Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll' brings down the curtain on a punky powerhouse of a set.

After Monroe is done, the room empties - or rather the bar fills up. But by the time Wednesday 13 stabs us in the face with opening number 'Calling All Corpses', Rock City is alive again - or undead, if you will. The tune has the decaying aroma of Michale Graves-era Misfits about it, though 13's singing ability is some way from that band's much-missed former crooner. He's closer in vocal style and stage show to Alice Cooper - albeit a younger, shorter, lower-budget version. Indeed, during 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', the North Carolinan growls that, "Alice Cooper and GI Joe taught me everything I need to know." The diminutive do-badder rattles through his four-album solo back catalogue, stoically avoiding the Murderdolls for the most part (though main set closer '197666' maintains his ties to the Joey Jordison side project).

Elsewhere, we are treated to the devilishly good likes of  'I Walked with a Zombie', 'Silver Bullets', 'Put Your Death Mask On' and 'House by the Cemetery', as well as 'Rambo' from Wednesday's Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 days. 'Scream Baby Scream' has a nu-metally whiff, perhaps to appease those who got into the man through his connections with Slipknot, while 'My Home Sweet Homicide', 'Happily Ever Cadaver' and 'I Wanna Be Cremated' offer more puns than a Jimmy Carr DVD. 'From Here to the Hearse' includes snippets of 'Suffragette City' and 'Under My Wheels', underlining the vocalist's influences, though 'I Want You... Dead' dispenses with any attempt at homage and simply nicks the chorus of 'Shout at the Devil'.

As the coffin lid creaks shut on a suitably spine-tingling performance, 13 cues the tune that launched a thousand backprints: "Please don't take this personally, but I want 'Bad Things' to happen to each and every one of you." (After we've visited the generously stocked merchandise stand, of course.) Between songs, he's not much cop, rarely straying from demands for us to "make some fucking noise", but he gets the guys and the ghouls shrieking along, and the response suggests the double headliner status is on paper only. As storming as Michael Monroe was earlier, this has been - to use his own punning vernacular - Wednesday 13's night(mare).