Gallows, Shai Hulud @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (26/02/2013)
It’s an odd thing reviewing a band that you have a long relationship with.
I can’t say it’s a good thing.
Gallows are a band I accidentally fell in love to thanks to a tall, dark, handsome guitarist and a whirlwind overseas holiday.
I ended up seeing this band at Montreal Warped Tour in 2007, the moshpit was filled with kids flinging themselves about and a shirtless red head in the middle of a man made dust storm.
It’s now 2013, a lot has changed for Gallows. On the eve of their third trip to Australia the guitarist Steph leaves the band, the newly appointed frontman Wade, who already has an army of fans in Australia as the backing vocalist and guitarist of Alexisonfire, is showcasing himself for the first time and the band are playing in a half filled Corner Hotel on a Tuesday night.
Walking into this iconic Melbourne venue, USA hardcore vetrans SHAI HULUD are finishing up what the energy tells me as an epic set.
The room is filled with a misty, sweaty scent, the moshpit is alive, the sing alongs are louder than the band itself and the crowd are up the front and engaged.
From past experience I set myself up near the sound desk, the safest place in the house for what I’m predicting to be another crazy Gallows show.
A third of the crowd leave after Shai Hulud, leaving an intimate selection of fans, a lot of those armed in their Alexisonfire merchandise.
As the red curtains open, the band of four are revealed.
Hearing a Canadian accent state “We are Gallows from London” doesn’t really give the audience any authenticity but when they launch into ‘Misery’, Wade’s ability as a frontman is proven. Launching himself into the intimate, well behaved moshpit, the band are left on stage, given a moment of limelight.
After multiple attempts of simple crowd participation and awkwardly silent and scarce reactions, I got the impression this crowd either aren’t familiar with the new album, don’t like to party on a school night or are just there out of curiosity.
Not deterred by the odd vibe and chatter happening in the room, the band continued to pump out songs from their newly released self titled album and the bands second and much loved release, Grey Britain, performing each song with a huge force of energy and although down a man, the sound was thick and tight and there was nothing lacking from the band.
Part way through, after a few familiar tunes is when I finally feel the crowd is finally paying attention, as if on cue, bass played Stu states “It’s been a long time, but we couldn’t be fucked flying all this way”- nothing pisses Australian crowds off more than laziness… and now we are back to square one.
Finally, a little victory, the instantly recognizable intro to ‘Abandon Ship’ off the bands debut ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ has even the dudes who have been chatting amongst the whole show, nodding along.
As always the bands biggest song, thanks to guitar hero, ‘Belly Of A Shark’ has the whole room buzzing and singing along, enough so to give guitarist, Laurent the guts to launch himself into this mediocre crowd, thank god they caught him!
Although the band claimed this was the best show all year, everyone in the room, except for the two dudes at the front sporting their ‘Gallows’ shirts failed to believe it, I doubt they even listened to him say it and if it was in fact the best show of the year, I really fear for their future, or maybe they’ve got horrible eye sight and they couldn’t see past the front row, where beyond that the crowd were dropping like flies nor hear the mumurs from the audience’s own conversations.
Although advertised the play until 11.45pm, this awkward event finished at 11.20pm, putting us all out of our misery early.
Having been my favourite rock vocalist for years, I had no doubt Wade could deliver as a frontman, but the awkward silence from the audience in between songs gives me the impression the rest of Melbourne weren’t won over.
I didn’t want this to be my last Gallows memory so I caught their set at Soundwave the following Friday and was pleasantly surprised and reminded of what this band is about, messy, hectic moshpits, crowd participation, sing along and security fearing for their heads.
Cassie Walker
I can’t say it’s a good thing.
Gallows are a band I accidentally fell in love to thanks to a tall, dark, handsome guitarist and a whirlwind overseas holiday.
I ended up seeing this band at Montreal Warped Tour in 2007, the moshpit was filled with kids flinging themselves about and a shirtless red head in the middle of a man made dust storm.
It’s now 2013, a lot has changed for Gallows. On the eve of their third trip to Australia the guitarist Steph leaves the band, the newly appointed frontman Wade, who already has an army of fans in Australia as the backing vocalist and guitarist of Alexisonfire, is showcasing himself for the first time and the band are playing in a half filled Corner Hotel on a Tuesday night.
Walking into this iconic Melbourne venue, USA hardcore vetrans SHAI HULUD are finishing up what the energy tells me as an epic set.
The room is filled with a misty, sweaty scent, the moshpit is alive, the sing alongs are louder than the band itself and the crowd are up the front and engaged.
From past experience I set myself up near the sound desk, the safest place in the house for what I’m predicting to be another crazy Gallows show.
A third of the crowd leave after Shai Hulud, leaving an intimate selection of fans, a lot of those armed in their Alexisonfire merchandise.
As the red curtains open, the band of four are revealed.
Hearing a Canadian accent state “We are Gallows from London” doesn’t really give the audience any authenticity but when they launch into ‘Misery’, Wade’s ability as a frontman is proven. Launching himself into the intimate, well behaved moshpit, the band are left on stage, given a moment of limelight.
After multiple attempts of simple crowd participation and awkwardly silent and scarce reactions, I got the impression this crowd either aren’t familiar with the new album, don’t like to party on a school night or are just there out of curiosity.
Not deterred by the odd vibe and chatter happening in the room, the band continued to pump out songs from their newly released self titled album and the bands second and much loved release, Grey Britain, performing each song with a huge force of energy and although down a man, the sound was thick and tight and there was nothing lacking from the band.
Part way through, after a few familiar tunes is when I finally feel the crowd is finally paying attention, as if on cue, bass played Stu states “It’s been a long time, but we couldn’t be fucked flying all this way”- nothing pisses Australian crowds off more than laziness… and now we are back to square one.
Finally, a little victory, the instantly recognizable intro to ‘Abandon Ship’ off the bands debut ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ has even the dudes who have been chatting amongst the whole show, nodding along.
As always the bands biggest song, thanks to guitar hero, ‘Belly Of A Shark’ has the whole room buzzing and singing along, enough so to give guitarist, Laurent the guts to launch himself into this mediocre crowd, thank god they caught him!
Although the band claimed this was the best show all year, everyone in the room, except for the two dudes at the front sporting their ‘Gallows’ shirts failed to believe it, I doubt they even listened to him say it and if it was in fact the best show of the year, I really fear for their future, or maybe they’ve got horrible eye sight and they couldn’t see past the front row, where beyond that the crowd were dropping like flies nor hear the mumurs from the audience’s own conversations.
Although advertised the play until 11.45pm, this awkward event finished at 11.20pm, putting us all out of our misery early.
Having been my favourite rock vocalist for years, I had no doubt Wade could deliver as a frontman, but the awkward silence from the audience in between songs gives me the impression the rest of Melbourne weren’t won over.
I didn’t want this to be my last Gallows memory so I caught their set at Soundwave the following Friday and was pleasantly surprised and reminded of what this band is about, messy, hectic moshpits, crowd participation, sing along and security fearing for their heads.
Cassie Walker