When I think of The Gaslight Anthem, I think of that young, impressionable group of young men from New Jersey that grace the cover on their deservedly beloved sophomore album, The ’59 Sound. It’s how I was introduced to them, and that image has always stayed with me.
That image is pretty far removed from The Gaslight Anthem of 2015, a band capable of writing large-scale rockers and able to fill up large spaces like Terminal 5 with ease. Some of these large scale songs are from their most recent album Get Hurt,, an album largely inspired by Fallon’s divorce from his wife. With the new album Get Hurt, The Gaslight Anthem have turned another page in their career. Only the album doesn’t feel as significant as it should. There’s always something about Gaslight’s sound that I’ll gravitate to, but Get Hurt just didn’t do it for me.
Even so, I still always look forward to seeing the New Jersey boys play live, as their live show is always an enjoyable affair. They don’t mess around with their setlists. They’ll always play a fair share of new stuff from the album their touring behind, but they do a good job including all the best tracks throughout their career.
They kicked things off with a nice run that consisted of “Howl,” “45,” and the always powerful “The ’59 Sound.” They only played four songs off Get Hurt, making room for older cuts like “Say I Won’t (Recognize)” from the Señor and the Queen EP, as well as “I’da Called You Woody, Joe” and “Angry Johnny and the Radio” from their 2007 debut album, Sink or Swim. Fallon had fun dabbling in covers of Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank” as well as an appropriate cover of The Boss’ “I’m On Fire.”
Brian Fallon led the group for a 26-song set that had all the fans in the very packed Terminal 5 singing along passionately. Seeing the group play such a large space and still seem too small for it says a lot about the journey that they’ve made. Throughout their career they’ve maintained the same core four lineup (Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz) as well as touring member Ian Perkins, whose been with them steadily since 2010. This longevity in their ranks really is a lot rarer than you realize, and a good sign that The Gaslight Anthem are in it for the long haul.
Find photos from their set as well as the setlist posted below.
Setlist:
1. Howl
2. 45
3. The ’59 Sound
4. Handwritten
5. The Spirit of Jazz
6. Old Haunts
7. Drive
8. 1,000 Years
9. The Patient Ferris Wheel
10. I’da Called You Woody, Joe
11. Angry Johnny and the Radio (with a cover of Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank”)
12. The Diamond Church Street Choir
13. Great Expectations
14. Here Comes My Man
15. Helter Skeleton
16. Red Violins
17. Red at Night (with a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”)
18. Say I Won’t (Recognize)
19. Film Noir
20. Underneath the Ground
21. Once Upon a Time (Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise cover)
22. American Slang
23. Keepsake
24. 1930
25. She Loves You
26. We’re Getting a Divorce, You Keep the Diner
Join the conversation