The Bottom Lounge-Chicago, IL
April 3, 2009
By Anthony Kuzminski
{Pictures Courtesy of the Gaslight Anthem's MySpace Page}
Inside the Bottom Lounge, Chicago’s newest live venue for music, the crowd is thrusting their perspiring bodies against one another like impassioned lovers who need each others bodies for more than just a sexual release but for internal redemption. The moshing is forceful, verging on furious, as the seven-hundred in attendance throw caution to the wind amidst songs of anticipation and liberation sound tracked by the Gaslight Anthem. “The ’59 Sound”, the title track to their most recent album, is eliciting screams of adoration and a physical churning I haven’t seen since alternative’s hey day in the early 90’s. Some have viewed the Gaslight Anthem as a band whose music is too workmanlike and they borrows too liberally from their influences,, but I dare you to witness the fist pumping and maniacal reactions from the sold-out crowd and not want to fall in love with rock n’ roll all over again. Kerrang! magazine put them on the cover last year without ever having written a single word about them in the magazine before that issue, a record for the publication and a rarity. That is how invigorating and intense their live shows can be. They hail from New Brunswick, New Jersey so when they write blue collar narratives, they’re pulling from their strengths. Their brand of simplistic four-chord rock may not be revolutionary, but one listen to it and like the world’s greatest comfort food; it hits you in just the right spot filling a void.
I walked into the Gaslight Anthem show full of preconceived notions, but ultimately, none of it mattered as the band delivered a set full of heart stopping rock n’ roll. Do not let anyone try and persuade you as to what you think this band may be. Leave their influences at the door, open your heart, mind and most importantly your ears and in the end, you’ll walk away happy for just being able to experience it. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of music one encounters these days. Bands up in your face every way imaginable trying to get you to take notice. But every once in a while you’re thrown back to a simpler time and place where when the music hits your ear drums, life’s problems fade away and you take your mind, body and soul to that rock n’ roll retreat.
Mining territory from the shores of Asbury Park soul with the vicious guitar attack of late 70’s punk London, the Gaslight Anthem hit you head-on with a unremitting sway that is not just sweepingly romantic but irrefutable as well. Steeped in classic four-chord rock, the Gaslight Anthem is a throw back to a time where there were no gimmicks and there was only the music. Aside from their album cover, I wasn’t even sure how they would appear. In jeans and t-shirts, the band harkens back to the best bar bands of the last quarter century but while they can invigorate a club, their songs are made for much vaster and wider places where arms-to-the-air anthems are a necessary ingredient. Ironically they have a song titled “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts” where optimism meets romanticism amidst warm vintage riffs. Throughout their seventy-five minute set, the Gaslight Anthem charmed the socks off of me and the rest of the Chicago crowd. I’ve had The ’59 Sound since last summer but only recently had the album cast a spell on me. At first, it was too derivative for my tastes, but ultimately, isn’t the best rock n’ roll always derivative?
The Gaslight Anthem have created two stellar albums and an engaging EP, but they are a band that needs to be seen in order to fully grasp the exuberance of their songs.
Opening with “Great Expectations”, the band hit the stage full throttle ahead and devoured the concert hall with their raucous and soulful anthems. “Casanova, Baby!” was endearing on record, but in concert, it’s downright sacred. The musical arrangement invites you to step inside the car of getaway dreams where hope springs eternal once a foot slams on the gas pedal. Lead singer and guitarist Brian Fallon delivered the lyrics with ardent emotional need as if he believes in the place where all your worries are in the past and the future is wide open (“Forget this dead mans town, I’ll take you home”). “Old White Lincoln” was delivered with the same heartfelt force and it reminded me about capturing soaring hearts and repairing broken dreams making you feel that the impossible is possible. All along the crowd was possessed, high-spirited and created an electrical feeling that only added to the atmosphere and spirit of the performance. They elevated the show and matched the Gaslight Anthem’s onstage intensity which is saying a lot. “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” features a menacing guitar lick Social Distortion would be proud to call their own paired with lyrical imagery that fastens itself into your brain. “Film Noir” asserts amping riffs while “The Backseat” twists and turns down the roads of heartbreak and promise that a summer breeze can bring. The latter was the evening’s final number and when the lights came on, everyone was leaning on one another attempting to grasp for air. The show was a physically intense yet a blissful escape from the realities of the world and the four piece band swept the crowd off their feet and far, far away to a world where the possibilities are endless.
If I had one minor criticism about the evening, it would be about the length of the show. This is a band who could truly wallop a crowd with an epic two or three hour show. They stand to leave not just a good impression but an everlasting one if they were given enough stage time. Granted, I caught them in the midst of eight straight nights in a row, so something had to give. Plus considering the Heartless Bastards opened the show with a riff-roaring set, yet, as good as they were, I’d kill to see the Gaslight Anthem have the spotlight for the entire evening. They stand to increase their audience ten-fold in the future if they have a chance of seducing the unsuspecting crowds with an extensive version of their thunderous anthem waving shows. Watching the Gaslight Anthem reminds me of falling in love with rock n’ roll in the first place. They come with no frills, no gimmicks and come to your town with one mantra; let it rock. When it comes to rock n’ roll, can you ask for anything more?
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
