The Others - Koko, London - Friday 9th December 2005

A completely unnecessary one, this. Having just been to see Hard-Fi at the Astoria, and with a further 2 gigs in 2 days over the weekend to come, I decided to go to see The Others play a late gig in Camden. This may have had something to do with the beers I'd drunk, which meant I was up for anything. That, and the memory of the riotous show at the Garage in May, drew me up there.

After navigating the pretty long queue (I must say I detest Camden Town at 11pm, when everybody in the world seems to be trying to do the same thing I want to do), we got into the venue, got a beer, and watched the tail end of the support act, The Crimea. Sounded OK, but didn't really have a chance to get into the set before it finished.

The Others came on just after midnight, and t was extremely easy just to walk up to the front to watch. The front middle was busy, but you could easily stand about 5 rows back, or on the barrier at the edges of the stage.

The crowd were separated from the stage by a row of security and barriers, which kind of ruins the Others experience somewhat, especially in comparison to the Garage in May. The set was good enough, but the real point of the Others is to see them live in a small venue, with lots of stage diving. This didn't have that spark of riot about it, so it felt a bit flat.