Gallows - Camden Underwold - October 20th When it comes to venues to hold a punk gig, it doesn’t come much better than the Camden Underworld, and Saturday was round two of carnage as Gallows played their second consecutive gig at the North London club. The majority of the 500 capacity had already secured their moshing spot in time to catch Marmozets who had just finished touring with pop punkers Young Guns. Certainly a slightly ‘different’ audience to what they had become accustomed to, but the 5-piece succeeded in getting everyone limbered up in preparation for the headliners. If you get the chance, it’s well worth catching these guys. On to the highly anticipated Watford based punk headliners with their refreshed line up. The band walk on to the stage with an edge of confidence which wasn’t particularly present during the Frank Carter days. With deafening roars as Wade MacNeil strides towards the microphone, the band break into ‘Misery’ and the chaos begins. The 5-piece play through a set dominated by tracks from their most recent E.P. ‘Death is Birth’ and the selftitled album with no complaints from the crowd, and who can blame them? The setlist also features a rather fitting version of ‘London is the Reason’ from the band’s second album ‘Grey Britain’ which goes down a treat with the locals. The crazy antics never die down, with crowd surfing playing a fairly large part. A few of the fans even somehow manage to snatch the microphone from MacNeil’s grasp to have a go at fronting the band. It’s fair to say that that’s what comes with a band such as Gallows playing such as The Underworld and it’s clear that MacNeil isn’t phased by it, as he chuckles and shouts“It’s like Gallows fucking karaoke!” The band conclude the set with the classics ‘Abandon Ship’ and ‘Orchestra of Wolves’ with the crowd screaming every lyric. MacNeil and co are aware that they will never headline Wembley Stadium, but would they want to? These are the shows that people will remember. AG Doors opened around 7.30pm for the fans buzzing for a night of pop punk legends and pop punk newcomers. On the bill were Californians The Story So Far, New Jersey’s very own Man Overboard and Florida legends New Found Glory and Less Than Jake.
The Road to Warped Tour - Cardiff University November 9th The Story So Far took to the stage at around ten to seven. A small cluster of fans gathered at the front, excited to see the band who have exploded worldwide in a very small period of time. As the first track of their setlist kicked in; a swarm of fans joined the cluster at the front ready to witness the band play most of the songs from their successful first full length ‘Under Soil And Dirt’. The crowd incredible enthusiasm throughout and sang along until their lungs give out. The reception The Story So Far received was fantastic to see. South Wales is a not a place renowned for pop punk fans but they were certainly out in numbers tonight. Tracks like ‘Mt Diablo’ ‘Daughters’ and ‘Quicksand’ were particular highlights and sent the crowd into an absolutely frenzy with constant crowd surfers. The band were on fantastic form with Parker Cannon’s vocals at the centre of the chaos created, his raw vocals perfect to blend in with the nature of the crowd. A fantastic start to the evening and it just shows how far this band have come in a space of a year. Next on stage were Man Overboard who like The Story So Far were touring for the 3rd time in the UK in 2012. Their sugar coated pop punk went down fairly well with the crowd, especially the younger girls at the front of the crowd who seem to know a lot of the more soppy songs that Man Overboard play. It was a varied set list featuring songs from all of their full length releases. The crowd were fairly quiet throughout, although tracks such as ‘Fantasy Girl’ and ‘Montrose’ did go down well with the fans of Man Overboard’s album ‘Real Talk’. Man Overboard are usually criticised for their live performances, but they remained energetic and strong throughout to deliver a good live performance, they concluded the set with ‘Love Your Friends, Die Laughing’ which seems to spark some vocals from the crowd, with it being one of the more popular Man Overboard songs. A good performance in front of a quiet, uninterested crowd with the exception of a few fans.