Gallows at the Camden Electric Ballroom
I genuinely wasn’t sure to make of the bill for this gig when it was first announced. I’m more than up for cross-collaborations on CD as it usually generates something that’s usually at least interesting, be it for better or for worse, but outside of the festival arena having two completely musically mismatched artists on the same stage looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Turns out I was completely wrong.
Lethal Bizzle is perhaps most widely known for being part of the UK grime scene, but he’s suddenly become a name in the rock world, arguably mostly due to an appearance on the special edition of the Gallows debut album Orchestra of Wolves. Again, no problem on CD, but a full support slot at a hardcore show? Are you sure Mr Promoter sir? It’d be interesting to see a show of hands from the crowd of punks, metallers and hardcore kids as to who actually owns a Bizzle CD or can name a decent number of his tracks, but among the crowd of Poison The Well, Gallows and other usually spotted metal tshirts wandering around the Ballroom there’s the amazing sight of Lethal Bizzle tshirts on the chests of pierced, tattooed, emo-haired kids. What’s next, goths in Jay-Z hoodies? Skateboarders in Celine Dion armbands? Any preconception about his suitability to be on the bill is gone from the start though - he gets a rapturous response. You could almost argue that it’s a testament to the multi-cultural nature of modern Britain that a crowd, who will an hour later be slamming and firing into each other to hardcore, are first jogging on the spot and pumping hands in the air to tracks like Bizzle Bizzle, What We Do and more. There’s no gangster posturing here, it’s honest, lyrically intense rap designed for a feelgood, party atmosphere.
I’d be lying if I claimed that I could say a lot about Poison The Well. Not because they weren’t good – they produce a solid, heavy-hitting set of fine hardcore that has the crowd go from grime-fueled madness to full on metal surging in no time, and they are a band that clearly have a wide, long-term fanbase. But sandwiched as they are between the curiosity-piquing uniqueness of Bizzle and the explosive headline set still to come it’s almost a shame that such an otherwise quality set is almost like an interlude for the impact it has on the evening.
Like them or not if you’ve been following the alternative music press for the last year or two it’s almost impossible not to have an opinion of Gallows. With an honest, work hard/party hard attitude and a solid touring schedule that consistently produces gob-smacking live shows it’s no wonder that their popularity has escalated. The band are hugely misunderstood though, arguably due to their no-prisoners attitude when it comes to vocalising opinions about shit music. As frontman Frank puts it – “The press seem to want to say that we’re thugs who just want to fight all the time. It’s bullshit, we’re just here to party and have a good time”, and party they do. The music takes in influences across the board from metal vocals and riffs, garage punk song construction and hardcore breakdowns, with a set including Abandon Ship, Will Someone Shoot That Fucking Snake, their storming cover of Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown and many more crowd favourites. On stage they’re a visceral, tumultuous pack fronted by lead wolf Frank Carter, who goes from climbing the lighting rig one minute to fighting his way, mic in hand, to the centre of the pit the next.
London is the closest Watford-born Gallows will come on this tour to a hometown show and it’s evident to see from the grins on the band and the response from the crowd, plus - how many other hardcore bands bring their mums and dads onstage to say hi? Again to (nearly) quote Frank – “This is a venue of 1300 people, but I feel like I’m playing to a room with fifteen of my mates”.
On a personal note, this was my first ever experience of being in, and at the bottom of, a multi-person pit collapse. It’s like being in a rugby scrum, only a scrum isn’t surrounded by three hundred other people who are all still moving. With my legs tangled under the two guys on top of me, one hand trapped under some guy with three of my fingers folded under at a nice snapping angle and only a crack of light above me I have to admit I was a bit worried, so thanks to all those nameless hands that pick everything back up. That’s how pits should be, and if you don’t pick up the people who’ve fallen down you don’t deserve to be there.
Technorati Tags: Gallows, Epitaph Records
