HOB Atlantic City w/ Cage the Elephant

colmillionaire wrote:

This sounded soooo much better than the convention hall gig. I could every word Brian said regardless of where I was standing. In fact I think this was the best in terms of sound quality... Maybe I am biased because of all the crappy bands that played before gaslight..haha

Haha, isnt it amazing 2 people at the same show can have 2 totally different opions? Didn't you hear the reverb the whole time or was it just me? Where were you standing mostly? I agree the convention hall sound wasn't great, but I thought this was worse. I thought the sound at Music Hall of Williamsburg was awesome.

I couldn't hear a bit of banter during the convention hall show. Or any lyrics for that matter. I was standing right on the edge of the "mosh pit" near Alex R. Who had maybe 2 noticeable guitar problems all night. When the dude was tuning and trying to get the mix right I was super worried. I didn't make the MHOW show...wish I could provide some input. I also don't think web videos are a good basis to make judgements on sound.

turnitin2004 wrote:

Wow, no one else thought the sound at HOB sorta sucked?

I have been to 5 or 6 gaslight show, and i thought this one easily sounded the worst.

I started in the front middle at the start of the show and then moved to the far left side (the moshing right away to start the show was an absolute joke, but I'm never going to win that argument, so I wont waste my breath on it.)

On the left side I thought the reverb was terrible, and it was hard to hear the words.

I moved to the far back middle and again I thought the mix was terrible, and the quality of the sound wasn't very good.

Am I the only one who thought this? I have been to HOB before and the sound was fine so I'm not sure what this one. Other opinions?

I wonder if all of our ears were blown out by the "music" being "played" by A Place to Bury Strangers. My ears were ringing right off the bat, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. That can't have helped the mix to sound good.

I also was towards the middle (left middle) and moved to the left to get away from the slam-dancing mosh pit.

Gaslight was awesome. But the crowd was the most obnoxious and angry I've ever seen at a concert. Maybe I don't go to enough metal shows but it seemed like a lot of them were there to see Cage the Elephant and got so riled up they didn't care anymore.

There were guys smoking next to us. Bouncers told them to put it out, so the guys hid the cigarettes and lit them up again as soon as the bouncers walked by. At least two people were openly smoking pot on the floor. There was pushing and shoving and a real disregard for anyone around them trying to enjoy the show.

Brian was able to calm things down, but I though the crowd was a hot mess. And if that's the kind of crowd that's going to be coming to their shows going forward, well, count me out.

Did anyone else notice how much Brian was straining to hit the notes in 45? They have to drop the key again.

Oh, and did anyone stay for the "official afterparty?" Did the guys show up? (I saw Alex L and his wife walk off after the show, towards their room I gather. He looked exhausted).

Oh boy, I don't like the sound of that crowd. Let's just hope that was because Cage was opening.

I was wearing earplugs the whole time, so my ears shouldnt have been blown out at all by the garbage that came on before Gaslight.

IDK if I just couldnt hear Brian cause the sound was so bad, or he didn't thank either of the two previous bands. At every show of theirs I have been to he always thanks the bands that come on before him. If he did I missed it. I wonder if it was on purpose because they did stink up the place.


And you know what, I will complain about the crowd a bit, because if we just let it happen then the a**h*les win. Ass soon as gaslight came on the crowd in the center was ridiuclous. There was a woman in her early 40s who cleary didnt know what she was in for, so she was trying to get out of the mosh pit. She must have left her purse on the ground, so she was looking for it to get it before she left. This didn't stop a bunch of douchebags from shoving her or other people into her as her head was down trying to find her stuff while I and 1 other non ass tried to keep people away from her while she tried to leave the area.

Was it just me, or did this crowd seem perticularly young for a gaslight show? Maybe they were mostly cage fans and decided they didnt give two sh*ts and just wanted to mosh. I'm not sure why we put up with it. What gives them the right to shove people who are just trying to stand there and watch the show? But as usual people will try to condone it and say I'm an idiot. This isnt a metal concert people, its cage the elephant and gaslight anthem. Both have probably had songs played on Fresh FM. Lets chill the eff out and respect other people?

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Oh boy, I don't like the sound of that crowd. Let's just hope that was because Cage was opening.

I was shocked at how many people were singing along with their songs. Not because they're bad - I found the show pretty entertaining, even if it went on about 20 minutes too long - but because I didn't know they had a big following in the NJ/Philly area.

And when Gaslight came on, it was pretty clear the more hardcore Gaslight folks had moved to the sides. They were the ones with their hands in the air during the choruses, etc. The center was the non-stop crowd surfing and moshpit.

Again, nothing wrong with crowd surfing. Nothing wrong with moshing. But during 59 Sound? There's something wrong with that...

turnitin2004 wrote:

I was wearing earplugs the whole time, so my ears shouldnt have been blown out at all by the garbage that came on before Gaslight.

IDK if I just couldnt hear Brian cause the sound was so bad, or he didn't thank either of the two previous bands. At every show of theirs I have been to he always thanks the bands that come on before him. If he did I missed it. I wonder if it was on purpose because they did stink up the place.


And you know what, I will complain about the crowd a bit, because if we just let it happen then the a**h*les win. Ass soon as gaslight came on the crowd in the center was ridiuclous. There was a woman in her early 40s who cleary didnt know what she was in for, so she was trying to get out of the mosh pit. She must have left her purse on the ground, so she was looking for it to get it before she left. This didn't stop a bunch of douchebags from shoving her or other people into her as her head was down trying to find her stuff while I and 1 other non ass tried to keep people away from her while she tried to leave the area.

Was it just me, or did this crowd seem perticularly young for a gaslight show? Maybe they were mostly cage fans and decided they didnt give two sh*ts and just wanted to mosh. I'm not sure why we put up with it. What gives them the right to shove people who are just trying to stand there and watch the show? But as usual people will try to condone it and say I'm an idiot. This isnt a metal concert people, its cage the elephant and gaslight anthem. Both have probably had songs played on Fresh FM. Lets chill the eff out and respect other people?

Don't forget the kid with the broken leg and the crutch! He was just standing there and got knocked down at least twice!

We were chatting with a mother/daughter pair before the show and ran into them again afterwards. The daughter (in her early 20s) said the only way she got through was pushing herself up against the barricade. Then two guys were nice enough to build a wall around her to keep the moshers away.

I don't know if the crowd was young so much as an odd mix. There were a lot of 15-25 year olds, but also a fair amount off 30+ people, then people in their 40s and 50s. I wish I could say the younger people were the problem but it seemed, to me, that there were all ages throwing themselves into each other in the mosh pit.

I thought the sound was actually very good. Watched the Gaslight set from the floor, and it was quality. Other shows I've seen there, the sound on the floor has not been that good.

As for the performance itself, vintage Gaslight. I especially liked that they played several from Sink or Swim.

Didn't see the first band, but Cage the Elephant, overall I had mixed feelings on. The music, I thought, was decent. Vocals - horrible. The lead singer seemed too choreographed in his dancing around onstage, and quite pretentious in his in-between song banter. But, apparently they are doing something right as they seem to be one of those trendy "it" bands. Not for me though.

To me, this wasn't a typical Gaslight crowd. Obviously, tons of Gaslight fans (as you can tell by the singalongs), however, there seemed to be a decent amount of people there who weren't as familiar with them, probably festival goers who arrived a night early. It wasn't a bad crowd, but as others have mentioned, it seemed a bit different than normal.

Not sure if anyone here was around where we standing on the floor toward the end of the show, but if you were you definitely caught a glimpse of this dude I am about to describe. Over by the bar on the righthand-most side, near the entrance, was a guy running around and, I guess you'd call it dancing, nonstop. Bandana, dreadlocks, nose ring, he certainly stood out. Not sure what he was on (I commented to my friend, "Do people still do ecstasy?"), but it was definitely something. He did his running around dancing routine nonstop, even during downtime between songs and while waiting for the encore. He seemed pretty harmless, but it was definitely interesting to see.

I really wish Lucero didn't have a show already scheduled last night, as a Lucero/Gaslight bill would have been excellent. But since this was marketed as the "Orion Pre-festival Show" or whatever, I guess organizers wanted to give a glimpse of the diversity of the festival.

All in all, another great Gaslight show. Although some hiccups (openers, some of the fans, etc), it was a great experience and glad I made it.

B701 wrote:

Not sure if anyone here was around where we standing on the floor toward the end of the show, but if you were you definitely caught a glimpse of this dude I am about to describe. Over by the bar on the righthand-most side, near the entrance, was a guy running around and, I guess you'd call it dancing, nonstop. Bandana, dreadlocks, nose ring, he certainly stood out. Not sure what he was on (I commented to my friend, "Do people still do ecstasy?"), but it was definitely something. He did his running around dancing routine nonstop, even during downtime between songs and while waiting for the encore. He seemed pretty harmless, but it was definitely interesting to see.

That guy was super funny. He was skipping around during the 59 sound and generally having a ball.

Better than whatever excuse that was for a pit. The bros def invaded this show... Also loved all the 18 year old girls in flip flops in the pit area. All of their toes are mostly likely broken.

Two other notes...

No banner hanging behind the band, just the generic House of Blues logo. Every other show I've seen there, the headliner had a huge banner hanging. Maybe they already had it staged for today at the festival grounds.

Secondly, Brian had a funny line about seeing Metallica tonight,

"In New Jersey, we don't ride the lightning, we ride the Turnpike".

Yeah man. Saw that dude. It looked weird but what. He was probably having more fun than anyone and be didn't have to ruin anyone else's time to do it. Good do him.

Oh man I'd have been eaten alive at this show. I have nothing against Moshing (all though I'd prefer if it was further back so that people who are just there for the music can still be in the front) or crowd surfing (although I wish it wasn't so constant. I don't like getting kicked in the head) That's nice some people helped others out at least.

That's so funny about the dude with the dreads though.

I had so many mixed feelings regarding this show.

I really had no idea what the heck was going on when A Place to Bury Strangers was playing. I guess I was amused by it.
There were a ton of obnoxious people in the audience. I wasn't prepared at all for the amount of Cage the Elephant fans... There were a lot of them, I suppose, but they seemed so out of place with their behavior; I understand they were probably trying to have a good time but so many people had 0 respect for the other members of the audience. There were people violently crowd-surfing (if that makes sense, I feel like they were being tossed into the air), and some people would use that as an opportunity to shove themselves in front of other people while they were trying to prevent themselves from getting hit in the face with a body.
Ugh. I have 0-tolerance for that... I can't stand it when people behave like that - I don't want to have to become aggressive at a Gaslight Anthem show.

When Gaslight played, I was basically dead-center and floated around the front, wherever the crowd pushed me. I actually had a great time, but I guess that's just what I've come to expect from being in that general vicinity. I definitely think there was someone deliberately pulling my hair, though, which was really peculiar. A lot of girls kicking and trying to squish their way to the front, too. Meh.

I didn't hate the sound, though (well, when Gaslight played). I definitely think my already reduced-hearing was further damaged by A Place to Bury Strangers... and also by people screaming directly into my ear.

I really didn't know what to expect from this show at all, though. I figured since there were tickets left, it would be a bit tamer... Wishful thinking, I guess.

Curious to see what Webster Hall will hold...

I was in the balcony with my wife and 2 kids (12 and 10). The only way the wife would go was if we had seats. From what happened on the floor, I guess it was a good thing. The balcony was about 3/4 fill when TGA played -- Less than 1/2 full for the Cage and the other "band(?)) The sound up there was great for TGA (we were in the middle of the balcony about 1/2 way up), but awful for the other 2. Im not sure it was the mixing that was the problem, through. it seemed like there was one amp on the right of the stage that was squealing constant feedback even when no one was playing. Finally, a tech walked over and made an adjustment and the feedback was gone. Unfortunately, this was AFTER both bands played, so we got to hear bad music with bad sound -- didn't make for a good night. The first band did the right thing by playing in the dark - if I sucked that bad I wouldn't want people to see my face either. Heard a few "you suck"s as they left the stage. The Cage fans upstairs were hysterical - stayed in their seats and moved head up and down -- looked like something out of Beavis and Butthead.

All was forgotten after TGA came on - The first few notes of Great Expectations had people moving around (I've been to a few shows at HOB and have found that the upstairs crowd almost never stands til the encores, which sucks - but people were moving and fist pumping all over the place. Almost everyone around us knew the words and sang every song. My older daughter remarked that Brian had less banter with the audience than the last show we saw (asbury), but he made up for it with the airline rant. Good setlist but still a few songs left on my "must hear live" list. I know Biloxi Parish is on the new album and will be played a lot with the new album release but it was on my list so I left happy.

Don't have tickets for Webster Hall but for anyone out there who's never been -- It is GREAT venue to see a show - especially if you're upstairs -- old hardwood floors that literally move with the music and the crowd. Wish I could have gotten tickets.

Hope someone recorded the show and will post it soon -- this one was definitely a keeper.

Hey all,

Previous lurker, first time poster.

I've actually been listening to Gaslight for a couple years now and this was the first show I had the ability to attend. So I guess this show was my Gaslight cherry popping.

Before the show my brother, his friend and myself went to check out where exactly to go inside the casino to get into the show before we went to get dinner. After we found the doors we decided to head back to our hotel (Resorts) to get food and then go get in line at the show. On the way out of the Showboat I see some guy walking ahead with a backpack on and a plaid shirt. I tap my brother and point and sure enough we confirmed it was Brian. I was like "holy shit". So i went up and tapped him on the shoulder and went to shake his hand. He shook my hand and I asked him if we could quick find a quiet spot to take a picture. I immediately felt horrible. The look on his face was pure tired / I don't know what. He explained that he had literally just arrived and that his wife was with him. I didn't actually let him get to the refusal and apologized for bothering him and told him to have a good show as we walked away. I can't say that I wasn't extremely disappointed however, I completely understood the situation. Happy I got to say hi and shake his hand but bummed we didn't get to take a picture.

As others have ben stating, the first band was absolutely terrible. I honestly could not tell whether they were serious or if it's just all a huge joke. I was not amused by their set at all.

I did not know anything about Cage The Elephant before hand other than what I read online about them before the show. Although I didn't really care for the music, I actually recognized their one song, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked". I couldn't say that I was a fan of the music but, I think performance wise, they put on a decent show. Definitely better than the first band and better than some other openers I've seen at other concerts over the years.

The pit definitely filled up as soon as Cage The Elephant was over. I expected a Gaslight crowd to be slightly less moshy than most of the bands I go see live (heavy rock / metal). However, was extremely surprised by the amount of moshing and crowd surfing that started right along with Great Expectations.

The show pretty much lived up to all the expectations I had for my first Gaslight Show. I personally thought the setlist was a nice mix of everything I wanted to hear. I think the only thing I did not get to hear that I wanted to was "Bring It On". Otherwise I enjoyed the mix of older stuff and newer songs. Although I kind of hoped to have heard more from "Handwritten".

Overall I was happy I made the trip from Allentown, PA for the show and I cannot wait for a fall tour to hit the area again. After going to this show I know exactly why TGA has become one of my favorite if not my favorite bands over the last 2 years.

Hopefully next time I can meet some of you folks.

I was stuck in front of the pit with awful sunburn. Not the best choice. But everyone complaining about the crowd, no excuse for people to be assholes but you really can't complain when people are having a good time. Sick of people pushing you? Move to the balcony. Don't like the pot smoking? Move to the other side of the venue. I saw the mom lose her purse and that was inexcusable but you guys have to remember that this is a concert. I managed with my sunburn, bloody toe, and bruises. It's just a part of shows.

This show was fantastic. I took the bus from NYC, left at 3 pm and didn't get back until about 6 30 am, but it was totally worth it!

1) it was great meeting colmillionaire, who is literally the biggest sweetheart! 2) they opened with Great Expectations and played Senor and the Queer right after, both of which are GREAT openers. 3) they played just about everything I wanted to hear. 4) I crowd-surfed way too much and apologize to anyone who had to hold me up, I was way overexcited.

Also, I must've not gotten the memo, and, it's been a while since I've seen these guys, but, they're a 5-piece now? They sounded great!

Yeah it was probably the most intense Gaslight show I've ever been too... the fifth guy is Ian Perkins...the guy Brian did The Horrible Crowes project with.

PennStateRLZ wrote:

Hey all,

Previous lurker, first time poster.

Thanks for that detailed report and 'welcome to the forum'.

great show. hope some good audio turns up at some point.

steady now steady now wrote:

PennStateRLZ wrote:

Hey all,

Previous lurker, first time poster.

Thanks for that detailed report and 'welcome to the forum'.

Thanks. I have a tendency to be long winded when giving reviews. Hopefully there will be more on the horizon.

Quote :

At every show of theirs I have been to he always thanks the bands that come on before him

I haven't gotten through everyone's reports in this thread, but on Saturday at Orion Brian told the crowd to check Cage out.

Orion Brian. That rhymed. Haha. #Tired

This show sounded really...dramatic? Surprised the balcony wasn't filled up.

Going to a show here soon. Did anyone have trouble bringing in a point & shoot camera (as opposed to a pro camera)? My experiences at HOB shows has been that they're ridiculously strict and make you check your camera, but I don't know what the policy is at the Atlantic City one.

Quote :

Going to a show here soon. Did anyone have trouble bringing in a point & shoot camera (as opposed to a pro camera)? My experiences at HOB shows has been that they're ridiculously strict and make you check your camera, but I don't know what the policy is at the Atlantic City one.

Over the past 3-4 years of going to shows here, they don't even pat you down anymore. So I don't think there would be any issue bringing a camera in. Prior to that time, they would check everything and not let you bring pretty much anything in.

Also, check your tickets. Nowadays (over the past 3-4 years) they no longer print "No Cameras". Prior to that timeframe that would be printed on the tickets.