Concert Review: Wade MacNeil Destroys Any Doubts As Gallows’ New Singer During Homecoming Show In Toronto

By: Stephen McGill –

Wade MacNeil of Gallows at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. November 8th, 2012 (Photo: Stephen McGill)

As a band, losing your lead singer is usually a death sentence, especially when that singer is the incredibly charismatic and terrifying Frank Carter. U.K. hardcore band Gallows faced this sentence with Carter’s departure, and the subsequent announcement of his replacement – former  Alexisonfire guitarist Wade MacNeil – took many by surprise. They were in Toronto shortly after that announcement, and while MacNeil had the sound down, the performance seemed like a pale imitation of Carter’s manic intensity. Things have changed since then though, and with a new album that they’ve recorded together, it was time to see if the band could stay as good as they were under Carter.

Rather than opening with a new number, they kicked the set off with “Misery Loves Company” from their second album Grey Britain which was an effective way of launching fans into a frenzy. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the floor at Lee’s explode into a pit like it did when they launched into those opening notes. From there on in it was a blistering balance between old and material, with new tracks like “True Colors” and “Vapid Adolescent Blues” from their new self-titled album, released in September, mixing with classics like “London Is The Reason” and “Belly Of A Shark.” MacNeil completely nailed Carter’s signature scream, and his ability to carry the vocals on the older material was never called into question. The performance was more his own as well, and perhaps because of the fact that he destroyed his shoes within two songs and dispensed of them into the crowd, he didn’t attempt to mimic Carter’s habit of spending most of the set in the middle of the circle pit.

Laurent “Lags” Barnard of Gallows at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. November 8th, 2012 (Photo: Stephen McGill)

It became clear after five minutes that MacNeil was a valid successor and he left his mark on every song they performed. MacNeil and company stalked about the stage, throwing themselves into the big gang vocals that highlight the choruses throughout Gallows’ career. They didn’t talk much though, leaving that to MacNeil, and if you didn’t know you might never have realised four fifths of the band were English. They closed the hour long set with the incendiary “Orchestra Of Wolves” from the 2006 album of the same name, which resulted in members of the crowd climbing over people to get a chance to sing along.

Opening the night was Toronto’s own Titan, who began strong, but fell quickly into the hardcore metal archetype of barely intelligible lyrics and a chugging dirge of instrumentation.

Everything then took a turn for the strange with the Montreal-based Barn Burner, whose name is easily confused with another band called Barnburner, which is made up of former members of The Gorgeous. Both bands lacked any comparisions as it soon became clear the second the growl of a heavy metal riff began. Between their driving guitars and chugging vocals, there was enough substance throughout their set to make even the Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) proud, not to mention the appearance of several overzealous metal heads in the pit. It was quite the spectacle to watch, and you can believe MacNeil when he stated later in the night that watching them every night reminds him of why he plays music in the first place.