REVIEW: GALLOWS AT BRISTOL FLEECE (29/06/11)
The atmosphere in The Fleece was set for an intense night. Before Gallows set even began someone had already climbed their way up one of the many pillars filling the floor of this quaint venue. Having made it all the way up to the ceiling this punter had a birds eye view of the stage but wasn’t going to be there for long. Kicking off with ‘Leeches’, from 2009 release ‘Grey Britain’ the carnage begins. The fans are being passed forward above the crowd and start filling the stage, suddenly it is filled with people wandering around but soon they are being shoved back off, stage diving into the amass that has filled the entire venue, with the more feint hearted now backed up against the walls. Next its ‘London is the Reason’ and then taken back to ‘Come Friendly Bombs’ from 2006’s ‘Orchestra of Wolves’.
The atmosphere is insane; the crowd are nearly more up for it, than Frank, this five-piece’s statement front man. Hot, sweaty and rammed legs are flying above the crowd. Frank exits the stage and takes a walk along bar, the crowds swarm towards him as he drags his mic with him, the cable tangling between them. Then he’s off out into crowd climbing on shoulders and being passed between fans until he meets the center of the room where he’s pushed up onto a large wooden chandler piece and proceeds to hang from it.
Once back on stage there are chants of “Mosh Pit!” but Frank powerfully states “You don’t ask for a mosh pit, you make one” shortly after Frank instigates a ‘wall of death’ which these excitably ferocious punters are more than keen to participate in. With the statement of not being the type for encores, they break into the set ender, also the final track from the same titled album ‘Orchestra of Wolves’. During this Frank subtlety departs the stage leaving the rest of the band to play out being accompanied by members of the crowd who have made it to the stage amidst the carnage and now have the mic in hand. In a show like this, crowd participation was key, and that is certainly what Gallows received.
Words and photos: Laura Palmer
