Collateral & Gallows Circus live review

Collateral and Gallows Circus

Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend 16/7/21
Live review by; Myk

Unfortunately Covid caused havoc with this gig as the original supporting bands The Lost Search Party and Little Red Kings were both forced to pull out. However the Rock Co-Operative persuaded Gallows Circus to step into the breach despite as they put it still being a few weeks practice short of gig ready.

Well you wouldn’t have noticed as they tore through a blistering set of blues inspired rock including the superb Holding My Breath for You, Bring Your Crucifix and Hell’s Whiskey. They even included an audacious but brilliant cover of Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana.

With Ian Day up front they have a fantastic singer who has a great rapport with the audience, the imposing Richard Tunbridge on bass, the steady hands of Steve Kitchener on drums and 6 string maestro Ben Atwood. They are back at Leo’s later in the year, I can hardly wait.

Next up are Collateral, now a 6 piece having added second guitarist Louis Malagodi and Robert Fenning on keyboard back in 2020 giving them a fuller sound. Charismatic frontman Angelo Tristan looks so at home on stage and effortlessly interacts with crowd as they rip through a set that includes Mr Big Shot, Can’t Hold Me Down, Merry Go Round and Lullaby.

Some of the tunes verge on the side of cheesy but they never go too far and with the incredible Todd Winger adding punch on guitar always bring them back from the edge.

Collateral are definitely the sum of their individual members, each bringing different musical influences that they blend into catchy radio friendly tunes. However live with the aid of the thundering Ben Atkinson on drums and Jack Bentley-Smith on bass looking every inch the 80’s rockstar they give the songs an added harder hitting edge and boy are they on form. They even had time to include a guest appearance on drums from Joel Gibbons as Ben took an impromptu comfort break.

A fantastic performance to warm them up for their next appearance at Steelhouse in Wales.

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#steelhouse #warmupgig #rockasaurus