Whilst on my way back from the Hayseed Dixie show the previous night, there were murmurings and rumours about Saturday afternoons set from Gallows. Just after midnight on Saturday morning, frontman Frank Carter announced he was leaving the band via twitter and his personal website to pursue his new band Pure Love, and by all accounts, this seemingly lead to a bit of a backlash from people.
12:45 arrived on the Saturday afternoon arrived, the band arrived and kicked straight into ‘Misery’. The pit went into overdrive; people flying everywhere and the already massive crowd that was gathered continued to grow during their set. There was definitely a sense that they were fired up for this show, playing probably the biggest set of their lives, at a major festival, which doubled nicely as almost a hometown show for the Hertfordshire five piece.
The re-named ‘London Is The Reason’ (‘Knebworth’ for today, but renamed for every town they play) caused as much carnage of any pit I have seen on a big stage at a festival. Even the people who usually avoid pits and complain at the slightest hint of contact from someone nearby seemed to be into it. Every song was met by louder cheers and bigger pits, culminating in ‘I Dread The Night’, which has already passed into history for the circle pit which engulfed the sound desk and carried on getting bigger throughout the song. ‘Orchestra Of Wolves’ finished the set, which lead to a rapturous response from the massive crowd.
Who knows what the future holds for Gallows, but for many this was the last time they will see this version of the band, and there is no finer way to leave a lasting memory.
Gallows setlist:
Misery
Leeches
Knebworth (London) Is The Reason
Abandon Ship
Black Eyes
Gold Dust
I Dread The Night
In The Belly Of A Shark
Orchestra Of Wolves
Photos by Danny ‘Sambuca’ Ackerley
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Was it just me, or did anyone else find it a bit disrespectful, to the rest of the band, of Frank Carter to be wearing the t-shirt of his new band hours after announcing that he was leaving, on what was one of their biggest ever shows?
I thought the whole thing seemed a bit strange, especially the timing of the announcement. Many people had difficulties accessing twitter / facebook during the festival (me included) so they would not have known anything until the compere saying that something had kicked off. Either announce it before a tour or afterwards, not in the middle of the night before as you say, their biggest gig. The t-shirt thing was a bit out of order too, just a bizarre series of events. Could have been handled a lot better.