I was able to join a few good friends and catch The Gaslight Anthem a week or two ago at the Firebird. First off, I respect a band like The Gaslight Anthem that chooses to play (and sell out) a great venue like the Firebird, when they could probably sacrifice that small club feel, sell more tickets and play to a less packed larger venue.
If you are new to The Gaslight Anthem, they are (to me) a super interesting band. In all honesty, they are not a band that I listen to all the time, nor are they a band that crosses my lips in the same breath as NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, however, you don’t have to listen to a ton of their songs to realize that they are very unique and pretty awesome. If you just look at them, they look pretty punk. If you just listen to Brian Fallon’s voice you hear from of The Boss, soul and a little Jersey accent. When you listen to their music, you get a little bit of all of those characteristics mixed together. I think part of the reason I appreciate this band so much is that they are a little outside my wheelhouse, but I like them all the same.
Then there are the lyrics. I have read countless posts on youtube about how folks feel like Brian is writing the lyrics to their life, which is always a pretty high compliment. For me, the lyrics are probably what keep me from listening to this band more regularly. Not because they suck, they are truly amazing, but they tend to hit me right in the heart and mix nostalgia and sadness pretty solid. I am just too impressionable and don’t really like to be sad, hence all the Pennywise I guess. The good news is that I think The Gaslight Anthem have a lot more music to make and probably a lot more tears to elicit.
Here are two songs, the first “Great Expectations” is my favorite, and the second, “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts” is a good one, and probably a good example of the soul and sadness that I find in their music. Enjoy.
ziphoodielife 