Gallows on 2008-08-07
So, I feel attractive.
(I'm hoping this will be resized. Huge self vanity- not cool)
Seeing Gallows last night was probably the highlight of my summer so far. It ended up being an incredible gig and I'm glad I paid just �9 to go. Since it's about twenty minutes away, there was no astonishing train tickets to buy so the whole evening was a bargain. Saying that, it was absolute carnage.
I walked to the venue with Ash after meeting him on the way, it was only a short walk so that's good. Considering it's all local, it's familiar- so no epic tales of getting lost.
As we went to go in we passed Steph Carter on the phone as he went outside. There was a sudden moment of panic or shock or something, to be broken by "so yeah, this is definitely the right place".
The first support wasn't anything to write home about so we went outside until it started raining, so we went back inside. While waiting around Steph walked past and Ash couldn't help but to do everything but cry right there. He wished him the best for later on and everything was peachy. A moment or so later Frank walked past and just as he was stopped he asked us if this large package was ours, then walked out after being wished the same. As Frank walked towards the toilet, we kept a watchful eye on him as he wandered around the bar area. After much pep-talking, Ash walked (although it was more of a stalk) over and after a quick gush he signed both of our tickets. Much the same conversation went but it was the most embarrassing moment of my life now I look back on it. We went outside afterwards for a wait, leaning against a van where Steph and Frank walked past and got in the said vehicle. This is all too close for comfort.
Skipping to later on that evening, around 10pm I think, Gallows FIIINALLY came on stage. Actually thank God, although saying that there was a part of me scared about the crowd to tall, buffed out men and the handful of girls amongst them. Only standing at 5'5'', I was probably one of the smallest there. Something nice about being small/ a girl in places like this is that you get looked after. Almost at all times there would be some sort of man-shield, which is comforting in the British hardcore scene. They opened with Orchestra Of Wolves, which I was ecstatic about but kind of overwhelmed as it's like the once chance.
Great set list. Great songs. Great power. Absolutely tiny venue. The crowd were really friendly also, like on a couple of occasions I actually had an arm around me. Also, I probably should command a drum roll for this, it's the first time I've actually taken a stage dive. The height of drama for me. But yeah it was during Abandon Ship, there was a barrier, but I managed to fight my way up to the front, pull myself up (I tried twice) and then some guy pulled me up onstage. When I was up there all I saw was the crowd cheering, some girl waving her arms toward me like 'come on, it'll be fine!' and Ash. So I think I just went for it. I can't remember actually doing it, but I think I remember coming down next to Ash, which was well timed. That was incredible. Really was. The set continued and I went in and out of the furious crowd accordingly to my ability to stand up straight. At the start of the Play Hard cover, Frank was saying "we're going to finish on a cover, who really does that?" or something to that effect. It was great, so I went for it. When that finished he's like "twice in one evening!"- so I thought they were going to play Party Hard again, but no. NO. They played Orchestra Of Wolves, the opening and my absolute favourite. I went to the barrier for this because there was a space and it was great. Frank towered over the crowd, sweat rolling off his face and every chance to stroke his arms and hair accordingly. But yeah, there was this actual surge within me so I pulled myself up on stage again and before I knew it I was on the floor, getting myself up with two drum sticks in hand. There was a massive black out in my memory but at least I can't remember falling to the floor (presumably). I shiftily made my way towards the bar and had a bit of a panic thinking I was about to be sick. Someone handed me some water and everything was fine. I watched the closing twenty odd seconds of the finale at the bar. As the crowd thinned I found Ash climbing offstage and I gave him one of the sticks that I presumably took. I feel so guilty about it, but hey- they've got the money to buy new ones.
There's an amount that happened later on that evening but I'm worried it's not interesting.
Rosie xxx