The Others – 100 Club 20th Anniversary Show

The Others – 100 Club, London – 22nd March 2025 – live review

This weekend, Oxford Street’s 100 Club plays host to two returning legendary acts, the venue welcoming to its stage the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter the night before, to much controversy, noise and media interest. Tonight’s show is less controversial, the full band intact (ok – there’s a new drummer, hardly the same as sacking off Johnny Rotten), but the noise levels remain right up there.

To mark its 20^th anniversary, London’s The Others are performing their debut album in its entirety from start to finish, throwing in a whole second set of tracks from their most recent couple of records and a couple unreleased choices as well to boot.

For the purposes of performing the tracks that got them a major record deal and an NME cover, the band take to the stage in their original 4-piece form: Jimmy Lager, Johnny Others, Dominic Masters and drummer Joseph Gardiner Lowe, the bassist and guitarist playing stoically throughout as Masters prowls the stage, singing directly to their gathered 853 Squadron of old. The tracks may not have the same frenzy of youth that they encouraged a couple of decades ago, but if anything, the distance from the hype and industry buzz reveal the songs as genuinely solid and inspiring.

When playing a set revisiting a past album, some bands take the opportunity to tinker with the running order, but The Others’ debut is mostly recited from start to end. Where ‘Lackey’ was once recited by venues of kids desperate to avoid a nine to five grind, the room tonight is chanting they maybe want out of the job they’re in or want to keep hold of the worthwhile employment they’ve found. On ‘William’, the band’s frontman searches the audience for a Somerset childhood friend, the record’s subject, who may be in attendance and subsequently finds him. ‘Psychovision’ gets the venue surging with post-punk ferocity but ‘Darren Daniel Dave’ takes a sombre turn due its stinging subject matter of lost friends, with Dominic declaring that the song had only been played live three times.

With a small deviation from the LP’s track order, ‘This Is For The Poor’ tops off the first set, rooting for the underdog and beckoning the first full scale stage invasion of the night.

An extremely short interval clears the stage, sadly thinning the crowd out also, and then the full, seven strong, band return, launching into a lineup of new songs from their past two albums – ‘Look At You All Now’ and ‘Difficulties Understanding’ – as well as some choice selections yet to be recorded. ‘Chattering Classes’, ‘Never Thought It Would Be This Difficult’ and ‘Stagger To Your Feet’ show there’s a heft of new material in the band who have been prolifically recording for the past 3 years. When they’re at their peak with songs like ‘Disdain’, ‘Rights’, and the magnificent ‘Nightmare’, it’s evident the current line up is the strongest the group have ever sounded, the expanded membership boosting the original four piece’s sound and songwriting skill.

As the closing twangs of ‘Country Song’ play out, although tonight’s show is very much a celebration of the heights The Others reached at the start of the millenium, it’s also a reminder to anyone whose attention may have lapsed over the past few years that their most potent songs are the ones they’re writing right now.

The Others played at London’s 100 Club on 22nd March 2025 as a 20th anniversary celebration of their self-titled debut record. Their entire back catalogue of 5 LPs was released on Spotify last year so you can hear it now if you want. If you missed them when they were released then Edge Of Arcady recommend you check out 2023’s ‘Look At You All Now’ and ‘Difficulties Understanding’, released earlier this year. You can also buy the band’s most recent 3 albums on Bandcamp.

You should go ahead and listen to 2005’s ‘The Others’ below: