Tag Archives: Brian Fallon
The Gaslight Anthem Kick off a Three-Night Run at Terminal 5
November 29th, 2012The Gaslight Anthem – Terminal 5 – November 28, 2012
After being on the road practically since May, the Gaslight Anthem played the first of three homecoming shows last night at Terminal 5. They’ve been supporting their newest release, Handwritten (which came out in the middle of their tour), and the set featured plenty new material. Some of the up-tempo songs, like “45” and “Here Comes My Man,” matched up well with such older tunes as “American Slang,” by far the highlight of the night.
The show began slowly: That is to say the band walked onto a stage lit with candles and smelling of burning incense, and the first song they eased into was the slow-paced “Mae.” Other similar moments throughout the set seemed to hint at what the band’s future holds (or at least, could hold). Because Handwritten has begun to showcase the band’s depth, and their shows now seem to reflect that.
Not only is frontman Brian Fallon starting to display more on his own with his solo acoustic work, but the band appears to be taking advantage of this change, rather than just sticking with the (albeit fine-tuned) up-tempo rockers, which they still do extremely well. In fact, right after “Mae,” Gaslight jumped right into their big hit, “The ’59 Sound,” and then continued on into the night. —Sean O’Kane
(A few tickets remain for tonight’s Gaslight Anthem show at Terminal 5.)
The Live Debut of the Horrible Crowes
September 9th, 2011The Horrible Crowes – The Bowery Ballroom – September 8, 2011
Last night, Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon, traded his blue jeans and white T-shirt for a suit to play songs with his new project, the Horrible Crowes, whose debut album, Elsie, was released earlier this week. Formed with longtime friend and TGA guitar tech Ian Perkins, the Horrible Crowes was apparently an attempt at more Tom Waits-esque material, although with Fallon’s unforgettable voice and lyrical style, it ended up sounding like a more soulful, less rambunctious Gaslight Anthem.
The Horrible Crowes is a full collaboration between Fallon, from New Jersey, and the English Perkins, aided both on record and live by a handful of friends. However, last night, Fallon led the show, taking the reins on the onstage musings, often telling stories about the different songs. Much like TGA’s material, the Horrible Crowes’ songs include themes of love, lament and plain old growing up. “I feel like we’re making our money’s worth now,” said Fallon early in the show. “I’d like to thank all the rotten ladies we’ve ever had.”
Later in the set, Fallon specifically introduced “Go Tell Everybody” as a song about when you’ve made a spectacle of yourself, “Crush” as one about the most awful way you could have a crush on someone and their cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” as a song conceived while creeping in the bushes and watching someone sleep. (Oh, such humor.) The group, which included TGA’s Alex Rosamalia on keys last night, also covered INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” in their encore. For a first-ever show, the Horrible Crowes absolutely impressed. —Kirsten Housel
A Double Shot of Solo Music
January 18th, 2010Brian Fallon – The Bowery Ballroom – January 15, 2010
On Friday night, two frontmen stepped away from their bands to play solo sets before a sold-out Bowery Ballroom crowd. Dave Hause, frontman for Philadelphia’s the Loved Ones, opened the show playing a selection of solo material and Loved Ones songs (like “Living Will (Get You Dead)” and “The Odds”) and a cover of the Explosion’s “God Bless the S.O.S.”
Shortly after Hause left the stage, Brian Fallon, frontman for the Gaslight Anthem—out of New Brunswick, N.J.—appeared. Though he didn’t showcase any of his solo work or new stuff from his band, Fallon did play a great combination of covers (including Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” and Kelly Clarkson’s “I Do Not Hook Up”) and released TGA material (“Great Expectations,” “The ’59 Sound,” “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts,” “Miles Davis & the Cool,” “We Came to Dance”).
Early in the set, Fallon said, “When you’re playing with a live band, you try not to ruin it by talking too much. Tonight I’m going to ruin it by talking.” Far from ruining anything, he spoke about bandmate (and show attendee) Alex Levine’s genius-ness, watching Metallica on VH1 Classic and how CCR easily could have been a punk band. Later, when zealous fans incessantly called out song titles, he jokingly asked, “Is this Henry Rollins’ fault?” and laughed about Rollins asking the crowd what they think he should play. The show ended with Hause joining Fallon onstage for four songs, all covers, including the outstanding “Ball and Chain” by Social Distortion. —Kirsten Housel
Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel
