Gallows By Andy Squire
When I arrived at the Academy last night, I was in a totally grumpy mood and determined not to have fun because my back was hurting so much (god knows what I’ve done to it) and with the venue only half full by the time the first band came on, it looked like I was going to be right.
But then again, who am I trying to kid? I have a bit of a love spot for The Ghost Of A Thousand, namely Tom Lacey, but that’s another story! Anyway, by the time the band hit the stage, eager to please, the crowd is still pretty sparse.
But, rather than dampening the spirits, a massive circle pit forms; taking full advantage of the space in the venue and the hoards of super buff, tattooed kids whirl around in honour of their skinny jeans clad heroes.
Okay, so in my heels and dress I couldn’t participate in such an event, it was incredible seeing such a small crowd consume such a huge venue in honour of their on stage heroes who - apart from a pretty inaudible vocal at time - put on one hell of a show in the few short minutes that had, and when Tom launches himself into the crowd, I was actually fearful that we may never see him again.
By the time they’ve left the stage and I’ve sorted my hair out in the toilets, it was time for the super foxy five some from Buffalo, New York to hit the stage with their rather tasty brand of ‘hardcore punk’ - if we’re believing what Wikipedia has to say.
For me, Every Time I Die had to be the highlight of the night, not only had I been waiting a eyar to check them out live, but I’d heard their live shows were completely epic… and I wasn’t disappointed either…
The fans went crazy from the first note right until the end; in fact, even after the end as there was about five minutes of caveman-style chanting of “One more song” after they had departed. They didn’t though, probably only got paid for 45 minutes, and weren’t going to embark on anything more.
Either way, their set was, for want of a better description, completely fantastic - it was amazing to watch the crowd feeding by line after line to vocalist Keith Buckley, which is for the best really, as he spends more time spinning his mic in the air than he actually sings into to.
When he finally managed to work out what to do with his microphone, he instructed the ’beautiful’ crowd to get their surf on and come give him a high five… there were shoes, glasses, headbands and all manner of paraphernalia flying around as everyone wanted a piece of Keith and co… and so the night had really begun.
However, the bad back (thankfully) came back by the time Gallows made their way to the stage, now to be honest, I don’t really ‘get’ this band’s whole persona, they always come across as not giving a shit about the music business, and hating their job… In an interview with NME, Frank Carter stated that the band was unlikely to last past 2009 (five years together):
“Gallows is not my life. Never has been, never will. It’s a hobby I get paid for. I’m a tattoo artist - that will always be my life and job. Being in a band is something I do for fun. I quit the band four times before we signed to a major label. Gallows won’t last five years.”
That interview was five years ago, and after signing a £1 million deal, I wonder how true that statement still is… anyway, it’s not about what I think, Gallows have been hailed as one of the most influential bands of the past 20 years… (Spice Girls anyone?) and so you’ve got to give them the credit they deserve.
The fans love them too, their brash ‘East London gangsta’ attitude almost makes you feel like the band hate your guts and will just pull out a pocketknife and ‘cut you up’ at any given moment, but let’s hope that’s just a persona… otherwise little old Frank could find himself banged up in prison and then this NME interview would ring true… now that’s not a bad idea.
See our Gallows photos here
See our The Ghost Of A Thousand photos here
See our Every Time I Die photos here
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
Photos By Andy Squire - flickr.com/acidtoast