The Others - Garage, London - Friday 20th May 2005

The FA Cup Final tomorrow, so mustn't drink too much. Oh well, that was never likely to happen, was it. To the Garage in Highbury tonight to see The Others, the renowned exponents of the guerilla gig. They once played a gig on the front carriage of a Victoria Line train from Walthamstow to Brixton. Although their records aren't fantastic, they have a brilliant live reputation, so I went to check it out.

On entry to the venue, and before the gig, all seemed very normal and unremarkable. Within a minute of the band taking the stage though, all that changed! From the first minute, the amount of crowd surfing was unbelieveable. And, with no security at all at the front, all of the crowdsurfers ended up on stage, meeting the band members before diving off back into the crowd. Every single time I looked at the stage, there were at least 15 people on it, and it was very hard to make out who was actually in the band, and who in the audience.

The music was good, and very fitting for the occasion. In the 45 minute set, the music only fully stopped twice, as the band lurched from one song to another. The only way I can think of to get close to describing this gig was that it was an orchestrated riot in a music venue, with a band called The Others playing the brilliant soundtrack to the riot. This was like nothing I've ever seen before, and the very hardcore army of the band's fans helped to make the gig such an energetic event.

Without that crowd, with more security, in a bigger venue, or even just on a different day, none of it would work half as well, but this time round it was a breathtaking gig that I'll remember forever. A riot, and a riot that was a pleasure to witness.