Let me begin this by saying that within the past year I have said the words, “Gallows is one of the best fucking bands currently playing music.” I have seen them every single time they have come through Chicago. I have stage-dived. I have sang along. I have finger pointed and shook their hands afterward. But when they announced their singer Frank had decided to leave the band, I was bummed. And when I heard they planned they were replacing him, I rolled my eyes and said, “fucking lame”, and when I heard they were replacing him with a Canadian to sing angry songs about Britain, I all but gave up. 

Now I find this interesting. I am a reasonable and rational guy and would I like to think I give most people the benefit of the doubt. Hell, I even bought and sang along to the first “new” Misfits record. So why should I, along with almost every other person in the audience, feel so reluctant to welcome the next person to carry a torch? Truth is, as Americans, we love the fact that Gallows was SO English. We loved that little angry British ginger. Almost every article touted him as the reincarnation of Johnny Rotten only with a sick throat tattoo and affinity for Black Flag so I was sold practically before I ever even heard them. 

So when they took the stage last night, it felt like an assassination. Really, there was nothing they could have done. I stood in the back with the rest of the kids waiting for them to fall on their face and when you’re up against that many folded-armed judging kids, you don’t stand a chance. The new singer, Wade, took the stage and went for it. Hard. Too hard. It felt like he was trying to prove it and it was obvious. I always back intensity, rage, and anger in a Gallows set but he simply came off like he was trying so hard to win over the crowd with stage-dives, moshing with the crowd and pandering to old fans. Everyone looked at each other and our eyes said the same thing. At one point, Wade even acknowledged the fact that people are angry that he’s not “English enough.” And he was right. Is it justifiable? Absolutely not. Did everyone there give him a fare shot? No. And despite how big of a fan I am of this band, admittedly, even I did not. But I wanted it to be good just so I could come back here and tell all the haters that you shouldn’t count out a band before you ever hear or see them but I knew I would simply be lying to myself. 

As a band, they were good. Real good. If all the people in that room had never heard Gallows before and they were seeing them for the first time they would have easily won over the entire crowd. But as Gallows version 2.0, there was no way. I can’t fault anyone, really. If I was in Gallows, fuck, I wouldn’t want to start over. And shit, if dudes came up to me, as an ugly American, and asked if I wanted to sing for Gallows I would have accepted in a heartbeat… and I would have KILLED it. Even the new singer, Wade, sounded awesome, looked cool, and brought it hard. But no matter what he did or how he brought it, you simply can’t attach a new head. Your band will always be chasing a shadow of what you once were. And Frank was not only the face, but the head, mouth and persona OF the band. It’s like taking a dead son and replacing it with another child doing his best to appease roomfuls of mourning and disappointed anonymous parents. 

The only hope Gallows ever had for a fair shake was to move Frank’s brother, Steph, from guitar to vocals. I mean, dude is just as pissed, looks and acts similar and… and IS BRITISH! That, or re-name the band. Otherwise, like I overheard someone say as I was walking out of the venue, “I felt like I just watched a second-rate Gallows cover band.”

Dead animals: None.

Boobs: Nope.

Homophobic jokes: Nope, but maybe a touch of sexism.