The Gaslight Anthem, HMV Forum, June 4th
The Gaslight Anthem played the HMV Forum on June 4th
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Thursday, 11, Jun 2009 03:56
Lewis Bazley sees New Jersey's finest in polished form as they retread the old favourites in north London.
With their exhausting touring schedule, you'd expect the New Jersey punks to have honed their craft but a brief stop in England to promote their re-released single The '59 Sound saw Brian Fallon and co on tremendously tight form.
Though High and Lonesome was marred by quiet vocals and Fallon seemed uneasy with the adoration shown by a Forum packed with punk kids and old timers, the tightness of Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine and Benny Horowitz meant the frontman was free to vocally riff on Gaslight's emotive working class rock.
The band's heritage had already been revealed through the use of All My Lovin' as the warm-up track and as Fallon dipped into Stand By Me and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted on I'da Called You Woody, Joe and Casanova Baby, respectively, Gaslight's debt to soul as well as rock was clear.
Brian Fallon might sing of teenage dislocation in Film Noir - "All you ever really wanted was for someone to understand" - but the extent to which he seems to speak to and for his audience marks him out as the frontman with the greatest empathy for small-town dreams and broken hearts since Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carabba. With a great deal more bite about his band than the Floridian emo troubadour, Fallon might just have to ready himself to follow Billie Joe Armstrong into speaking for the hopes and fears of a generation. A supporting slot for Bruce Springsteen at his Hard Rock Calling show this summer is unsurprising, given Gaslight's musical borrowing from the E Street Band, but it's also in his drenched-in-feeling, heart-on-sleeve penmanship that this punk rock poet shares a great deal with the Boss.
The likes of Old White Lincoln and The Backseat were greeted with the surging enthusiasm you'd expect, given their familiarity as fans eagerly await the release of new material, but there wasn't a hint of complacency in Gaslight's set.
There might not have been any originality in terms of the set composition but the striking professionalism and ever-increasing confidence of the band - added to the realisation that they're the types to write on the road - means there are great expectations indeed for their next album.
Lewis Bazley
The Gaslight Anthem are playing the following shows and festivals in the UK and Europe this summer:
June:
12th France, Toulouse - Skabazac Fest
13th Italy, Milan - Rock In Idro
15th Germany, Zenith in Munich (w/Social Distortion)
16th Germany, Stadt Halle in Offenbach (w/Social Distortion)
17th Germany, Philippshalle in Dusseldorf (w/Social Distortion)
19th Austria, Nickelsdorf - Nova Rock
20th Germany, Neuhausen Obeck - Southside
21st Germany, Schessel - Hurricane Festival
22nd Denmark, Radio House Studio 2 in Copenhagen (headline show)
24th Norway, Hove - Hove Festival
25th Sweden, Goteborg - West Coast Riot
26th Switzerland, St. Gallen - Open Air
28th UK, London - Hard Rock Calling
July:
3rd Germany, Munster - Vainstream Fest
4th Germany, Wiesbaden - Vainstream Beastfest
5th Finland, Turku - Ruisrock Festival
9th Spain, Bilbao - BBK Live Festival
10th Portugal, Lisbon - Alive Festival
11th Ireland, Dublin - Oxegen Festival
12th Scotland, Glasgow - T In The Park
16th Switzerland, Bern - Gurten Festival
17th France, Briouze - Art Sonic Festival
18th Belgium, Dour - Dour Festival
25th Japan, Fuji - Fuji Rock
August:
29th UK, Leeds - Leeds Festival
30th UK, Reading - Reading Festival