The Others - Manchester Gulliver's

You know that when a band comes complete with a kamikaze stage diving division things are likely to get messy. Very messy. Combine this with a venue hotter than a naked Carl Barat, add one of the most talked about bands of the year and leave to simmer. The result? Forty minutes of blood, sweat, tears and a reminder that rock ‘n’ roll really can destroy the soul.

As a front man, Dominic Masters is unpredictable and engaging, and if it wasn’t for the microphone in his hand you’d mistake him for an over enthusiastic toddler – climbing speaker stacks and spending more time in the crowd than on the actual stage. Previewing tracks from the forthcoming album as well as various b-sides and current single ‘Stan Bowles’ Dominic exudes an infectious energy and devotion that clearly matches that of the crowd – ‘Community 853’ is written especially about the dedicated stage diving division. Final song ‘This Is For The Poor’, an us against the world manifesto and call to arms is met with all out chaos – a writhing mass of bodies swamp the band, sweat’s pouring from the ceiling and the make-up is smeared all across my face. So who cares about looking like you’ve stepped off the pages of Dazed and Confused? And who cares if London is the capital of cool? Tonight Manchester is the centre of the universe and reminded that if your heart’s in the right place, nothing else matters.