The Gaslight Anthem- Concert Review
By Justin Zuccarelli
December 30, 2007, I drove from Pittsburgh, PA to catch a show at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia where Days Away was calling it quits and Good Old War was officially beginning, The Dear Hunter and Anthony Green were playing to a sold-out church basement. The next day, New Year’s Eve, Thursday was playing their first hometown NYE show since I believe their first show. They had opening bands, Circa Survive and a New Jersey quartet that I hadn’t heard of. I can remember the lead singer coming out in a crisp white t-shirt and jeans. As soon as the opening band ended their set, I immediately texted my friend back home in Pittsburgh, typing “The openers were incredible!” he asked who they were, and my response “Some Jersey band called The Gaslight Anthem.” At this point, The Gaslight Anthem had been a band for little more than a year releasing their debut album Sink or Swim in May of 2007.
Fast forward 10 years and I began taking yearly vacations to New Jersey. By happenstance, call it my “emo-millennial heart”, we found ourselves constantly staying in Asbury Park. When I play Gaslight songs, my partner is usually taken aback. I don’t fit the demographic that Benny Horowitz has described on his podcast as Gaslight’s audience. I am not a fan of classic rock or Bruce Springsteen. However, there is something to the words and music created by – singer/guitarist Brian Fallon, lead guitarist Alex Rosamilia, bassist Alex Levine, and drummer/podcaster Benny Horowitz – The Gaslight Anthem.
The sound of The Gaslight Anthem can be heard playing at a beach bonfire, backyard BBQ, or in a VFW on a Friday night in our ruined desolate steel towns of Western PA. It’s warm and comforting. On August 24, 2024, on the banks of the Ohio River, The Gaslight Anthem came into McKees Rocks – Not Pittsburgh, which is becoming a joke amongst the veteran acts – starting off the show with American Slang followed by 45. When most bands hold their hits for later in the set, Gaslight hits the ground running and never looks back.
As the guys played through their classic back catalog the fans sang along with Great Expectations, Handwritten, and Howl. As I finished taking pictures in the pit, I began watching the crowd’s mood change as the band transitioned into tracks from their latest offering History Books -Positive Charge, Dance, Spider Bites, and Michigan, 1975 - many faces in attendance became reflective. There were couples embracing, singing to one another while others were slowly swaying, just barely mouthing the lyrics. The crowd really connects with these songs but the most impressive part was seeing Fallon always finding the time to look into the crowd or at his fellow bandmates to have a laugh or just take in the beauty that their music brings to so many people. As if to say, can you believe we are here, on this night sharing this experience?
I am so used to seeing acts coming through Pittsburgh (McKees Rocks) and just going through the motions. We aren’t a glamourous city, a stop between Cleveland and New York City or Philadelphia and there isn’t much to do after 5 pm. Especially not when you are in McKees Rocks, most people avoid it when the streetlights come on. The Gaslight Anthem are the people from Pittsburgh. They know what it is like to be in a place where no one else wants to be.
As the band finished out their set with Mae, Great Expectations, and The ’59 Sound I found myself wishing to be back in Asbury Park on a gloomy foggy January evening. The sound of the wind blowing through the lobby area between the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall with whispers of all the famous punk and rock to be played at the Jersey Shore. The Gaslight Anthem is signed in the History Books next to the fistfight show of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, famed promoter Moe Septee, Led Zepplin who rejected Woodstock to play Asbury, and of course The Boss. The fans are happy that The Gaslight Anthem gave the world another album and it looks like the guys are happy too.
History Books is out now on Rich Mahogany / Thirty Tigers.
Also, check out the podcast Going Off Track co-hosted by Benny Horowitz.