My Gallows Dingwalls & Electric Ballroom reviews

Check out my reviews of the gigs Gallows played at Dingwalls and Electric Ballroom on the 17th December. Please leave a comment or share the links. Thanks.

Reviews www.bringthenoiseuk.com/

Dingwalls review

Electric Ballroom review

Amazing frontman

And lovely guy. I look up to Frank a lot because he does his own thing, is good at it, and doesn't give a flying fuck what anyone else thinks. It's always a pleasure when I see him, a true gent.

I found this ace picture of him here. It's a really cool blog so check it out.

These new MCR pics just keep getting better!

Frank looks expecially good in this one. Gerard looks as hot as normal.

Sang Bleu - A Hat and a Tattoo

Check out these cool photos Sang Bleu posted of one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Mr. Frank Carter. I strongly advise you get tattooed by him and read his blog too.

My Engagement Tattoo

I've had this a little while now but it just didn't want to heal. I think I might have a tiny bit of scarring but it still looks great and as it's my engagement tattoo it obviously means a lot to me.

The diamond represents the engagement and I just made it pink because it's girly and cute and I love the colour. S.P.Q.R. is means the senate and people of Rome and if you've ever been you'll have seen it written all over city. Adam popped the question in Rome and as it's my favourite place on Earth I was going to get an S.P.Q.R tattoo anyway so it made sense to put them together.

It's my second Frank Carter tattoo and he's just great so it was a joy to get. He said my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the bubblegum pink he was using. It's true.

Gallows Twice!

Friday and Saturday saw two fantastic Gallows gigs that couldn't have been more different if they tried. On Friday I travelled to Kingston to see them at the Fighting Cocks. Last time they played Kingston I missed it and was gutted for days so I sure as hell wasn't missing this one! The sun was blazing and as we arrived at the 100 capacity venue we knew we were in for a sweaty night, especially as 150 tickets had been sold. The band were milling around and we had to squeeze into the tiny room they'd be playing.

I've never been one for moshing and normally steer well clear of the pit (because I don't want to break my nose and normally have a fresh tattoo I don't want to get cut up) but there was no way of avoiding the pit this time as it took up half the room. Most of the guys were shirtless and going mental so the humidity, made up of pure sweat, was making it hard for everyone to breathe, including the band. But the dancing, moshing, stage diving (even without a stage) didn't stop all night and even when Frank looked like he was going to collapse he just kept on going. It was definitely my number one Gallows gig and probably in my top two or three gigs of all time.

Eva Spence joined the band to sing Black Heart Queen and she gave me a big wave when she saw me. She's such a sweetie. We actually went to see Rolo Tomassi a couple of weeks ago at Underworld and they were brilliant, of course. Everyone leaving the gig was saturated. My hands looked like I'd been in a bath, my hair was wet through and you could have wrung my clothes out. Everyone was in a great mood though and it was one of the friendliest gigs I've ever been to.

On Saturday it was the Bizarre Ball and Gallows were due to play at 1am. My god it really was bizarre. I knew it was going to be full of people in fetish gear and fancy dress but I was not expecting to see so many willies. Boobs yes but willies no. My word. Also I don't know why so many fat girls choose to wear corsets. Each to their own and all that but a corset does not give a fat person a waist, it just emphasises that fact the don't have one and then gives them back boobs to match the front ones. Anyway, I digress. I'd made the effort and bought some amazing eyelashes and spent ages getting my eyes right. I even wore heels but had to change into pumps because I have granny feet and was in pain.

We stood through some pretty ropey performances and managed to get right to the front ready for Gallows. I was pretty happy until 10 minutes before they were due on a midget took a fake shit in a potty, fed it to his mate and then threw the remaining water and toilet paper in my face. Eyelashes were removed and I was still picking toilet paper out of my hair the next morning. If I could have kicked that midget's arse I would have done. But that would have been wrong.

Gallows finally took to the stage, watched by their beautiful other halves, in balaclavas. Steph kept his on for all of 30 seconds and the rest lasted about 1 minute longer. They played a blinding set and were on top form considering the crowd was crap. The highlight was when Frank spotted me between songs, waved, said hi and asked how my tattoo was. He said he was worried about the bruising. I assured him it was fine. We left the minute the set was done (not before Lags threw a snare drum through the air and nearly hit me haha) and was home by 3am.

I'm just sad I didn't get to see them play Hyde Park with Rage Against the Machine but twice in just over 24 hours was good enough for me.

My Newest Tattoo

I got a new tattoo this weekend. Not only is it new it was also done by the rather talented Mr. Frank Carter. We all know I'm a Gallows fan but Frank's not only a great singer and lyricist he's an even better artist and tattooer.

I let him do whatever he wanted pretty much. I said I wanted a rose bud and bloom and that I wanted them red but that was it. The tattooer always knows best and Frank has a very distinctive style, he certainly didn't disappoint.

For some reason I was under the impression he was a heavy handed tattoo artist and I went in a bit nervous but turns out he's very gentle and I was almost drifting off to sleep at one point. My arm did fall asleep and there was an unfortunate misplaced hand incident but the less said about that the better I think.

Out of all of my tattoos this one has the least meaning. It was more about the artist than the design however I think I've changed quite a lot over the last 6 months and I guess the bud and bloom represent that to some extent.

So here it is. This photo was taken straight after it was done so it's not looking its best. Since this photo was taken my arm doubled in size, went yellow and purple (so fantastically that Frank took a photo) and is now scabbing and peeling. All perfectly normal but I'll be glad when it's finally heeled.

I recommend you get a tattoo from Frank if you get the chance, he's at Frith Street over the Summer. I'm all booked in for my next one with him on Monday so there'll be another update very soon.

Little Catch Up

I really neglect this blog, last time I wrote anything I'd just been to Camden Crawl, that was like a month ago, so I should update everyone on what's been going on since then.

Firstly I tried to get fit and healthy. This mainly involved me not drinking and putting my new running shoes to good use around Regents Park.

I managed 3 full weeks with no booze, which isn't easy when you live in Camden, work for a company that embraces a drinking culture and class the Hawley Arms as your second home. I managed to slowly start getting better at running, although to be honest my lungs felt like they were going to implode. I haven't smoked for at least 7 years, and even then it was never much, but oh my god my lungs don't like exercise. Never the less I was loving popping on my ipod and trying to find my 'power song'  to run to, so far it's a toss up between half the songs on the new Lily Allen album and Gallows 'The Vulture'. It all went tits-up when a gig I was going to on Monday got cancelled, Skint & Demoralised at the Camden Roundhouse, and we ended up having a bit of a drinking session with Mr. Skint himself, Matt Abbott. We got a rather intimate spoken word session with him in the beer garden (see video and ignore my ridiculous laughing and cackling in the background).

So that was the end of my health streak. I've not had a hangover like the one I had the next day for years. You don't even want to know how ill I was. I wouldn't mind but that much alcohol wouldn't have had much effect on me 3 weeks earlier so trying to be healthy actually made me sick....well that's my excuse anyway.

I also managed to catch a really odd gig on Tuesday night with my mate Sam. We went to the Lock Tavern to try and see Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong do a dj set but ended up leaving after the first two bands. The first was great but we didn't catch their name, bloody typical, the second was called something like Sparky and the something or other deathcap. Oh my god it was the most surreal experience of my life, he had an OHP! So we left and got chips instead which just fucked up my diet even more....along with the pint of cider.

Next came Gallows at Kentish Town Forum. Fucking amazing, out of this world, perfection! That band are fantastic live, they give everything and Frank Carter is so engaging. The only down side was we were up top and you can't stand up up there, we eventually did for the last couple of songs but I'm sure it was way more fun down the front. I managed to spend £30 on merch and have a pint so this time my purse was feeling the pain as well as my liver. I left adamant that a Gallows tattoo is the way forward and I'm searching for a great lyric and an image to pull together as a start of my sleeve.

I also went drinking Friday and Saturday, as well as shopping, so I pretty much cleared my bank account and the health streak is dead and buried. Next steps? Polish off the vegan cakes I bought yesterday, finish this blog and go for a run. Well, maybe I'll have a nap first. 

This week maybe wasn't my finest, god I did some stupid things, but it sure as hell was a lot of fun.