The Others / The Motive / Geezer / Bootleg Poets The Rainbow Friday 12th October 2007

Ahhhh, the nights are getting chilly, there's a frost in the air, old folk are roasting their nuts by an open fire...actually they're not though are they? In fact it seems to be getting warmer. Speaking of things that warm up old people (I'm talking about me here...and I'm about to make a cheesy link...here we go...) first up in tonight's Kamikaze! were Bootleg Poets (see, gold, pure gold). Although they weren't poets and, to the best of my knowledge none of them are bootleggers either, they turned out to be the surprise hit of the night. They're a fine scuzzed up mix of The Pistols, Libertines, Strokes and Ramones, all served up with a side order of classic Brittishness (top marks for calling a song 'Cheer The Fuck Up'). Listening to tracks like Rose Tinted Glasses and Follow The Leader (their current My Space versions don't do 'em justice) you can easily see them amassing a loud and loyal fanbase that'll top anyone from Coventry (their home turf) since the glory days of t'Specials. In a word...ace. In two words...really ace.

Talk of t'Specials brings us neatly on to the ska infused rock sounds of Geezer. They've clearly gone through the mill a bit of late after their lead singer left and tonight was their first gig with the new line up. If they hadn't mentioned this fact I wouldn't have noticed, so they've obviously worked hard to keep the band going. Fans of solid, arms in the air, jump up and down with your mates rock will find a lot to like in Geezer.

Next up, The Motive. Again a strong, confident performance. Rawer, edgier punk than the Bootleg Poets, almost Oi!-ish in places. Lead singer Add kept losing his guitar (the strap was fucked...he didn't literally keep losing it...like down the back of the drum kit...or behind the speakers...that would be silly now wouldn't it?) and without it he was able to bounce around a lot more, giving off the sort of energy that really suited the music, which I kinda liked.

Last, but by no means least, The Others...yes...The Others! For the uninitiated amongst us The Others were, back in 2004 a really big deal. Lead Other Dominic Masters (you can just see his head in the picture at the top of this review...he's singing to the girl in the red...see?) was, and as far as I know still is, a good mate of old Pete Doherty and, at the time, the two of them were seen as being in the same kind of league. For various reasons the media turned on Dominic well before laying into Pete. But you can't keep a good man down. The Others released their second album last year and seem to be doing quite well enough thank you very much without the support of what's left of the traditional music press and record industry. Why? Well they've recruited themselves an extraordinarily loyal and passionate fanbase (the 853 Kamikaze Stage-Diving Division) by being pretty much totally accessible. Dominic, so I've read, gives his mobile number to fans, they hold guerilla gigs on street corners and actually welcome stage invasions (hence the fan 'club' name). I'd not heard a huge amount of their music before tonight, but I recognised singles like This Is For The Poor and William, both delivered with as much passion as I'd expect in a band on their first tour. Musically they do anthemic indie rock (with a social twist) much better than most bands playing venues ten times bigger than The Rainbow. Dominic came across as a bloody lovely chap all round too, even before giving me a sweaty hug after leaving the stage. I'll never wash again...