GiggingNI.com
The Gallows
With Rolo Tomassi; Wounds;
Having seen Cancer Bats, a Canadian hardcore band, play in the Spring and Airbrake in April, I was thinking that would probably be the most insane I've seen a crowd, or the performers, get. I was wrong. Very wrong. The 'kick-in-the-arse' Cancer Bats gave the Spring and Airbrake was nothing like the battering the Gallows gave the Limelight on a dull Monday night. One thing is for sure, when there is people outside wanting to get in, but can't, you know that the show later on is going to be somewhat of a highlight of your week, but I think this would be more like highlight of the year.
First up were Dublin band Wounds, who were there to provide the music at the start of the night, and despite the frontman looking like he was on something, they were a pretty tight act. With some funky bass lines and an insane drummer behind them, they knocked out quite a good set. My highlight in particular was near the end of their set when an additional floor tom was pulled over by the, clearly zoned out, frontman and was used to synchronize with the drums to create quite a great beat which rounded off a decent set. These guys have talent but whether they come out the other side is another story. And if that frontman wasn't on something, he surely fooled a lot of people!
Next up: Rolo Tomassi. The Sheffield bunch were back again to kick some ass, whether people liked it or not. The crowd seemed equally as surprised as me the first time I seen Eva Spence, frontwoman of Rolo Tomassi, let rip on the vocals, thinking how the hell did that come out of such a small woman like her. But rest assured, it was her and they were in for plenty more of that! I've came to like Rolo Tomassi because they clearly love what they do; in particular guitarist Joe Nicholson who loved showing off his guitar skills equally as much as Joseph Thorpe on the bass who's headbangs is that of a madmans! But songs like 'Nine' and their latest single, 'I Love Turbulence' is the reason why people love Rolo Tommassi. They're energetic, original and unique. It's like nothing you've ever heard before.
Now for the main event, the band everyone came to see. The band that was shook the world and recently received a 5 'K' rating in rock magazine Kerrang! - The Gallows! You may be familiar with them through their song 'Abandon Ship', which featured on many occassions on music video channels, it may be that you're a Guitar Hero fan and enjoy thrashing out to 'In The Belly Of A Shark' or you may have been with them since the start. Rest assured, if you didn't know them before this, be prepared to hear alot more about them soon! Fronted by Frank Carter, whose brother Stephen features as a guitarist in the band, it was obvious that there would be a few stage-dives during the set. But the stage-dives weren't normal - let's just say Frank dived into the crowd and then made his way to the onto the rised platform at the seated area in the Limelight where he continued to sing one of their next songs, 'London Is The Reason'. Somewhat cheesily changing the title to 'Belfast Is The Reason', something in which the crowd loved, screaming the lyrics back to him twice as loud as the singer could. At this point, Frank didn't decide to rejoin his band onstage but however proceeded further down the Limelight, with a wired mic in hand, to start singing on the bar! Yes - on the bar whilst nipping a sneaky free pint while he was there to comically later admit he doesn't even drink. This wasn't the height of the event yet - at one point the Gallows frontman was even singing whilst hanging upside down off the roof! Trust me - it was insane! But despite the antics off stage, the rest of the band were fantastic. Whilst the setlist contained many new songs, 'I Dread the Night' for example, they rallied off old favourites like 'Abandon Ship' and 'In the Belly of a Shark'. Despite the Gallows describing the Limelight as "hotter than Satan's armpit" which was evident with all the fans drenched in sweat after (even the security), The Gallows looked pleasantly surprised by Belfast's attitude and energy and described the crowd as 'fucking insane' on many occasions. In reflection if the Gallows got a chance to come back, you can bet money on them returning as with this, and the Cancer Bats show, Belfast loves a high-energy, hardcore, band to thrash to!
