Brian Fallon: Famous?

At TGA's recent show at the masquerade in Atlanta, i was fortunate enough to get to meet Alex L, Benny, and Brian after the show. (actually, before the show my friend and i were approached by Andy Diamond a la "Whohoohoo sings it better than we do, them sopranos in andy diamond's choir," because of our huge "No Retreats, No Regrets" poster and the fact that i had my guitar with me.) They signed my guitar, and altogether it was the greatest night of my life thus far. Still, one thing that stuck with me was when brian told me, "I'm not famous." I replied that we'd just left a single room where about 400 people sang almost every word to almost every song he played, and i could've continued by saying that TGA has been on letterman, and been the first band EVER on the cover of Kerrang! magazine without having been previously featured in the publication. (I certainly would've avoided the Springsteen card, they're tired of it.) He responded again, "I'm not famous, Bob Dylan's famous," and we moved on to talk about something else.

I know that TGA influences like Bob Dylan and Otis Redding are much more famous than TGA, but my question to all of you: would you consider Brian Fallon famous, and why?

go out on the street and ask the first person you see if they know who Brian Fallon is. there is a 99% chance that they won't have a clue. then ask them if they know who Dylan or even Madonna or The Beatles are... get the point? for me, those are famous people (wether you like them or not is another matter..)
this is just my personal opinion. i think Brian is making himself a name among the punk rock scene, but that's it, at least for now i wouldn't say he is famous at all.

"I'm not famous, Bob Dylan's famous"


Humble, my friends, humble is what they are.

EDIT: THe Gaslight Anthem is like a subculture in itself. I love this band. SO many do. Magazine covers, high reviews, massive shows across the world.


I have never met someone who has heard of them.

I guess you guys are right, it just burns more than a little inside... I'm so sick of being a part of a culture that deifies Justin Bieber but won't pay Brian Fallon enough to buy a '49 Mercury, and even artists who at least CARE about what they do (Lady GaGa, and i know that's a stretch, but if you listen to her acoustic sets you can hear that she's actually a musician) have to release their music as dance-pop to get airplay.

Also, i know this isn't entirely relevant, but what's the deal with the song names and the stars? There's nothing about it on the FAQ page.

Song names and stars? What?


But on Gaga's topic - my sis and cousin are insane fans. Not I, but she is a really talented piano player, and her music can be looked into in some songs.

LIke, under your name it says "Red in the morning" and has five blank spots for stars. Then, iwth bea, it says Wooderson and has two stars and three blank spots. I've got no clue whatsoever what that means.

MyFirstSin wrote:

I guess you guys are right, it just burns more than a little inside... I'm so sick of being a part of a culture that deifies Justin Bieber but won't pay Brian Fallon enough to buy a '49 Mercury, and even artists who at least CARE about what they do (Lady GaGa, and i know that's a stretch, but if you listen to her acoustic sets you can hear that she's actually a musician) have to release their music as dance-pop to get airplay.

Also, i know this isn't entirely relevant, but what's the deal with the song names and the stars? There's nothing about it on the FAQ page.

Most forums have similar "ranking" things.

Although my time here has been short (even though been on forums for year), I think it is a type of ranking system that goes up with post count.

i totally agree with you on that about Gaga, i think she's actually really good but it's sad the way she 'throws' her talent like that... (check out her performance at the Grammys with Elton John, amazing!)

oh and the stars and names of the songs just represent your number of posts: red in the morning if you've posted less than a 100 (i think...), then you become a contener, if you have more than 300 is wooderson and so on...

I think the term "famous" depends on your definition of it.

Some can say that he is famous since he is in a Levi's ad....it just depends on how to define the term.

I don't consider him famous, hell I don't even consider Lucero famous and they been around for 13 years.

Like I said, it just depends on your own definition of the term. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer

MyFirstSin wrote:

LIke, under your name it says "Red in the morning" and has five blank spots for stars. Then, with bea, it says Wooderson and has two stars and three blank spots. I've got no clue whatsoever what that means.

It means they are more famous in here than you ...

It is indeed just a ranking system based on number of posts, rather than quality of posts, so it does in fact reflect quite well how fame works in the real world.

steady now steady now wrote:

It is indeed just a ranking system based on number of posts, rather than quality of posts, so it does in fact reflect quite well how fame works in the real world.

Absolutely. I think that the forum should have a "like" option like facebook. But, whomever put this together probably doesn't get paid, so i think we've got a pretty fantastic thing going here.

MyFirstSin wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

It is indeed just a ranking system based on number of posts, rather than quality of posts, so it does in fact reflect quite well how fame works in the real world.

Absolutely. I think that the forum should have a "like" option like facebook. But, whomever put this together probably doesn't get paid, so i think we've got a pretty fantastic thing going here.

I was just about to like your post, then i went like: oh... yeah...

Everyone is famous to fifteen people.

El Jefe wrote:

Everyone is famous to fifteen people.

I consider you pretty famous since you have done work for TGA, The National, Henry Rollins, Foo Fighters etc.

Well thank you. Just don't show up on my door step like other people have looking for posters. I'll have to throw my cat at you. And trust me, my bank account does not feel famous.

Famous? In certain circles. But I mean, Brian probably could walk down most streets and not be recognized. And I definitely wouldn't recognize El Jefe if I saw him on the street, although I'd definitely know one of his posters if I saw it.

I would feel that being famous would involve alot of pressure, there is enough pressure on everyone all the time and with the added great expectations. Considering that he can shop and go out to eat without being bothered is just the right level of being famous.

I wouldn't say he is famous. To get famous you usually have to life the celebrity lifestyle and that just ain't him.

and let's measure fame in Facebook terms, i.e. as in how many people like ...

The Gaslight Anthem: 55,313

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: 120,532

Mumford and Sons: 536,259

U2: 5,075,154

Obama: 14,555,682

steady now steady now wrote:

Mumford and Sons: 536,259

they're awesome

PFREEZY wrote:

I wouldn't say he is famous. To get famous you usually have to life the celebrity lifestyle and that just ain't him.

Possibly his greatest trait. But yea, i suppose "famous" isn't the best word to describe him... But he's most certainly widely admired. I just wish i lived in a part of the world that appreciated better music.

MyFirstSin wrote:

PFREEZY wrote:

I wouldn't say he is famous. To get famous you usually have to life the celebrity lifestyle and that just ain't him.

Possibly his greatest trait. But yea, i suppose "famous" isn't the best word to describe him... But he's most certainly widely admired. I just wish i lived in a part of the world that appreciated better music.

you don't live in Luxembourg, be grateful for that

he probably wouldn't want to be anyway, just remembered for something great.

I believe Brian is successful, talented, and popular in his respected genre. Not famous in the general sense, though. Maybe in a couple decades things will be different.

And btw dude, you post on the Blink Boards too, right? I think you posted a pic in my TGA thread