Hung drawn and quartered
What a meteoric rise it's been for hardcore exponents Gallows over the last couple of years and to be fair they've put the hard slog in to get to this stage. They've received a huge amount of press recently and all that remains to be seen is whether the live show lives up to the hype.
Well it doesn't take long for Gallows to get going and to show just exactly why their live shows have been talked about so much. In short their half hour performance is just incendiary with the whole band leaping around and displaying a rare level of passion for what they do. Naturally the set centres around the album (Orchestra of Wolves) and the main focus is on vocalist Frank Carter. Carter is just full of energy and bounds across the stage, only pausing to stand on the monitors and stare out at the crowd before invariably breaking into a grin. There is plenty of between song talk and although there is clearly plenty of attitude behind Carter he comes across as an honest guy, at one point phoning his mum before a song so the crowd can shout hello to her!
Several mic stands and associated mics get smashed into the stage before Carter launches himself into the crowd for some surfing as the band tear through songs like 'Abandon Ship' and 'In the Belly of a Shark'. Musically they are pretty tight and although not as groundbreaking or as heavy as Ghost of a Thousand or Cancer Bats, when combined with this kind of live show it's a thoroughly engaging combination. The crowd loves it and there's a pretty good howl from everyone in the middle of the excellent set closer 'Orchestra of Wolves'. Gallows have set the standard today and shown that UK hardcore is in good hands.