GIG REVIEWS

The Others
@ Leeds Cockpit
2.12.05
www.vanguard-online.co.uk


Last time The Others were here, Dominic’s 853 crew pushed the crowd up beyond sold-out numbers and a frenzy ensued. Tonight, the ‘this year’s thing’ effect has subsided and the crowd is smaller but the frenzy still ensues. We’re going to run a lot of photos with this as they tell more of the evening than these scribblings.


Dominic had promised me 14 songs – 10 new ones plus the singles. In the end he had to do 15 since the audience wouldn’t let them go without Psychovision. It’s a brave set – mostly new – but his fans love him and will let him do what he likes. We get a new one first – They Called Me A Bastard, then the real show-starter – William, before another new one then a wild-off-the-wall Lackey.


Back when I was a teenager. I used to have to take my specs off before I started moshing. As a result I can’t remember what half the bands I saw looked like! Three songs in someone kicks my glasses off my face in a spot of over-enthusiastic crowd surfing and I flash back to the raw thrill of being 14. The crowd is pouring up on stage and back off in a tide of feeling. Dominic leans forward and dozens of arms hold him up. He beams, munificent. There is a look of love and satisfaction, a beam as he surveys the moshing smiling people. There is no care and no caution tonight and no aggro – it’s rare to get a crowd so aggro-free.


It’s an act of collective will – everyone responds to the new songs because they agree that they will love them whatever because they love this man. Oh, and they all bounce and throb in simple ways with chants over the top – easy to grasp – well done Johnny.


“We haven’t practised this one…..”. Cue lengthy bass strum……. -> Psychovision! Chaos ensues.
After some stage clearing by the over-worked security – “Anyone got the setlist?” asks Dom.
“Combine Harvester” announces some wag.
“Yeah, good one”, and Dominic sings a few lines. He knows how to work a crowd.


They play the next single – Going Out For The Weekend – due in February then, as a finale, This Is For The Poor and the stage fills up again. There’s no encore tonight – after an hour of non-stop the Dom and Johnny Show, we are way past curfew and, more to the point, dripping with sweat.









Ross McGibbon