2 Nights On The Pony Summer Stage - May 25+26 - ON SALE FRIDAY!

GlennR wrote:

Setlist:

Handwritten
Old White Lincoln
American Slang
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Casanova, Baby!
The Diamond Church Street Choir
Biloxi Parish
Angry Johnny and the Radio
45
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Blue Dahlia
Too Much Blood
Miles Davis and the Cool
Meet Me By the River's Edge
Mulholland
Great Expectations
Keepsake

She Loves You
The '59 Sound
Here's Looking at You, Kid
The Backseat

Thanks!


I'm gonna stop reading this thread before all of the negativity changes my mind of how great last night's show was...

Anyone got a mediafire download link of last night's audio?

I don't know where you guys were standing but where I was we couldn't hear Brain for the entire show because we were drowning him out. I'm surprised they didn't have any house speakers at center stage. Was it a perfect show? No, but I enjoyed the show and to me that's what matters most.

I was upfront and could barely hear Brian's vocals (typical). I really felt like no one (band or crowd) wanted to be there. It was miserable weather-wise so I'm sure that's why. Personally I liked that where I was was the perfect amount of pushing and crowd surfing (if those two things must exist) and my friends and I were actually able to jump and dance for a change. It really was a shorter than usual set and I'm so freakin board of this set list. I love the 59 sound and I enjoy most of handwritten (and obviously it's the tour for that album) but I wish they would please just switch it up! I love all these songs but I wish they'd drop some of the following: angry Johnny, HLAYK, another 4 or 5 off 59 sound, and too muh blood, and replace them with anything they haven't played in awhile, because the set list is beyond predictable. They have every right to play whatever they want but it beats me how theyaren't bored out of their minds.

Also I don't think the openers should play for a combined time that is longer than the headliners set. It was too much other music before TGA went on in my opinion.

But overall I had a mostly good time I'm just nitpicking and the set list thing has been bothering me for awhile but this was the worst set list I've seen with them

I have a friend looking for one tonight. Please text me at 732-995-988one

Mine are sold. Have fun tonight guys.

I have to be honest- I was almost hoping for the show to be canceled because of the weather. I think people are going to have to realize that it doesn't get warm as early into the year as it used to. I went to see Social D there 2 years back at a May show and remember thinking it was a bit early for an outdoor gig. Bamboozle's been pretty cold the last couple of years too.

There was a definitely a downpour just before 8pm, but it was really brief.

Quote :

It was 55 and rainy last night...I didnt want to take my hands out of my pockets and clap or move, I wanted hot chocolate and to die. Don't get on a new jersey crowd for gaslight. trust us, we wanted to be there, but that was basically the worst weather possible for an outdoor show. i would have rathered it been 75 and downpoured.

The hot chocolate line made me laugh so hard you have no idea. But I agree with all of that. I had my winter jacket on and at one point had to put my gloves on.


Also, don't forget they JUST got back from Australia too. Maybe Tuesday? They were tweeting about having 40 hours of travel, plus they must have had major jet lag. I was surprised they had a US show so close to returning home. I did notice it was a bit more mellow than usual but I didn't think it was sub-par.

As far as setlist, there are a couple off '59 and HW I'd like to see go just because I go to so many shows.

I got there a bit late, but that's annoying that Luther actually went on at 6:30 when the site said the show was at 7. At the will call table they had the set times and I think Luther wasn't even listed, so I thought they didn't play. Sucks for Hold Steady fans that you had to miss so much of their set. Maybe the indoor Stone Pony shows messed things up?

Oh and the bathroom lines were insane! The line for the ladies room went nearly across the whole Pony inside. I mean it went back til midstage.

Was at the show last night after driving up from Philadelphia. There was a bit of rain during the Hold Steady set but then it stopped. It was windy but not unreasonably cold. I had a polo on and a really light jacket and was completely fine - it's the Northeast people, you should be able to handle 55 degrees.

That being said, the sound was not great. I've been to outdoor Gaslight shows before (penn's landing in Philly) where the sound was really good for an outdoor show. The vocals were drowned out, not sure if it was the lack of speakers or the crowd.

The crowd was a mixed bag. People went nuts for Great Expectations, '59 Sound, and Backseats, but other songs were hit or miss. There were some groups of parents there with their kids that I normally don't see at other shows. There was a group of guys next to me on the right side of the stage (about middle deep) that were going nuts. Tons of crowd surfers from our section, some kid even lost his glasses and miraculously found them on the ground undamaged.

I will agree that the setlist needs work. I did get to here River's Edge live for the first time, but still no 1930. Also would have liked more off Sink or Swim (only Angry Johnny was played). And how do you not play Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts at a show in Asbury?

I still had a good time, but would like to see them drop Keepsake and Too Much Blood from the set and pick up 1930 and Spirit of Jazz/Bring It On. Was grateful I had some people around me that were into it - some girl next to me and I were kind of singing HLAYK to each other during the encore.

Last night was my 18th time seeing the band since 2007. This was my first time seeing them in Asbury, something that I've always wanted to do. The set list could've been better - see the setlist from that Atlantic City show last summer to see a setlist that's way more speed - but it was still amazing. Outdoor shows are always kind of a drag, no matter what band you're watching! It rained and it was cold, but I still got to scream and dance along with some of my best friends! Excited for tonight. See you all there.

We did handle the weather. No one left because of it

NeverTrustAJunkie wrote:

We did handle the weather. No one left because of it

Very true, the place was packed up till the very end of the show. 55 wouldn't have been as unpleasant if the wind would've stopped, but once TGA went on I was too into it to care haha. I didn't even think about how they just got back from Australia. Oh man that makes it even more miserable for them!

Also maybe the bad weather was why there weren't more speakers? They could've made them louder though, I had ear plugs in during the hold steady but took them out for gaslight.

What did you all think about Handwritten as an opener?
I think either Mae or a faster number works better but I didn't hate the decision to open with it.

Just found out I'm going! Maybe I'll see some of you there! I will undoubtedly be the only tall blonde guy in a Menzingers baseball T in attendance, so that's how you find me haha.

I haven't been on here in forever, but after feeling (MILDLY!) disappointed after last nights set I kept wondering... was it me, am I getting too old (only 27), am I losing touch with the first band I was ever confidently able to call my favorite!?!? But, after reading these comments I feel justified that it wasn't just me that had mixed feelings about the show; however, I do think a lot of it was on me.

I was expecting something big from the show... Memorial Day, in Asbury Park, after tragedy struck the east coast and all the build-up to the re-opening of the coast, playing with THS... the stars just seemed aligned for some magic. I had built this show up in my head as going to be unbelievably epic (partly because I rarely get to see shows anymore).

Reading through all of this just made me realize... the show wasn't really THAT different from the 9 or so others I have seen, but that was the problem. I think I built it up a bit too much in my head... I was waiting for a guest appearance (even taking advantage of having both THS and TGA together!), a new cover, a song they rarely played live, some fun monologues about being in Asbury or jokes or random stories that only loosely make sense when not thought about to hard. You know, the things that have made countless other shows incredibly memorable. Not to continue the gossip corner, but Brain did seem down except for the few times he flashed that winning smile of his. But, it may be that I just saw the happiest man in rock n' roll (Craig Finn) in the set prior. Overall, they showed up and played a solid set (I haven't seen them since HW came out so I was excited to hear the new stuff).

As far as the vocals, I couldn't hear a thing because the crowd was going crazy singing along (not a bad thing!). For people who said there wasn't movement, you must have been in the wrong place, my ribs are bruised, shoes are torn, and back is sore (maybe the old thing is getting true, too!).

Sorry for the long personal rant... first time I have left a show not totally pumped and had to work through it.

Much love.

Quick Day 2 thoughts:

The Gaslight Anthem were awesome. Thank you to the band for putting on an energetic, exciting evening.

Night two was infinitely better than the first night, and the band came out with a bang ("High Lonesome") that they rode through most of the night ("Wooderson" was particularly tight). Also, they dropped "Old White Lullalby" entirely, which was a generous surprise. Brian said he regrets not putting "The Blue Dahlia" on Handwritten, something we can all probably agree with. Sure, the band still peppered in quite a few boring cuts from Handwritten, but all in all night 2 was awesome and inspired me to get tickets for their upcoming NYC dates, something I thought I wasn't going to do after that first night.

^^Thanks for that recap. I wish I went to night 2 instead of 1 but it's nice to be reassured that night 1 was more of a fluke than a sign of things to come!

Problem with the Saturday show (The one I saw) was that it was typical Gaslight nothing wrong with it but peoples expectations were just a little higher. I saw them at the convention hall for their holiday show in December 11 and I think people were expecting that kind of level of extra to be put into their show. And we didn't get that we got a typical Gaslight show. A good one but either because of the weather or whatever reason it just wasn't that kind of special show.

I remember seeing them at the Welmont in 2009 and at the Asbury Park Convention Center in 2011 and those shows seemed to be sort of special awesome shows. While all the other shows I have seen have kind of seemed like a typical set from the boys (Which is enjoyable and worth the price of admission) but it didn't have that extra level of special that maybe some were expecting.

I think last night the weather psyched me (and maybe others?) out before even getting to the show. I was talking to someone tonight who works at the Pony who said when a band's on the Summerstage, they're getting pelted with wind like crazy and I imagine that wasn't too fun last night with it being cold.

Tonight's setlist was much better for me personally. So cool to see Mae in Asbury Park outside on the beach at night Plus We Came To Dance and Wooderson! Those three were the highlights for me. Danny Clinch coming out to play She Loves You was also pretty neat.

Here are some shots from the barricade on night 1 - i think alot of them came out awesome, for being taken with my "backup" camera. I didn't want to bring my $500+ Nikon to a rowdy show and risk it being broken.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151618322460379.1073741836.500520378&type=1&l=15ca0e313d

The setlist on Sunday sounds infinitely better already. High Lonesome, Wooderson, and We Came to Dance.

Seeing good things about night 2 gives me hope that it was just a bad show and that they were just in a funk.

That show was amazing. So much energy (at least in the front, I was two people back from Brian front and center. It seems there was a weird vibe the first night, but everyone was there to lose their minds (We Came To Dance was very fitting, to be honest). Plus I like that Brian brought back "At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet" during the coda of Meet Me By The River's Edge. Nice touch that really added a lot, I thought. Plus I finally got to see Blue Dahlia live.

I did not enjoy getting kicked in the head multiple times, but that's the price you pay for being close enough to have brief conversations with the band between songs haha.

And yes, the set list was very different from what I've come to expect. No Old White Lincoln, American Slang, Angry Johnny, Cowgirls, or Too Much Blood. But they still played Queen Of Lower Chelsea which was massively disappointing. I wish they'd drop it and throw in some of the genuinely great songs from American Slang (they do exist).

Personally, I had a great time both nights... but I would say that Sunday was far superior to Saturday's show.
A lot of the crowd was very low-energy on Saturday; I was expecting people to perk-up once Gaslight went on, but felt like only a small percentage of people did. I'm sure it was the weather, but I didn't think the cold was so bad after it stopped raining.

Was very pleased that they played "We Came to Dance" last night... I'm an Edison-native, still excites me to hear my hometown mentioned in a song ;]

Overall, I wish they would've played more from Sink or Swim... especially for a Jersey crowd. I saw them in Atlanta back in March and they played both "1930" and "We're Getting A Divorce..." was hoping to hear them live again!

Well, everyone in the front was chanting Sink Or Swim to no avail haha. I was hoping they'd play some of the four songs I haven't seen live, which happen to all be great songs: Drive, Contender, Orphans and Desire. I'm not counting the sparse album closers they almost never play like Red At Night, We Did It When We Were Young and National Anthem.

I don't know why I put Drive there, I have seen them play Drive haha.

on Saturday night I must say that's about the first time I saw next to no reaction from a crowd after they did their regular set. I think people really could have cared less if they came out for an encore...it was almost embarrassing. I don't even think they wanted to come back on...it took them a while. And then they flashed the lights on the crowd, possibly trying to get them to clap? It was super lame...reminds me when you go to a sports game and they write "MAKE SOME NOISE" on the Jumbotrom. lol

It definitely wasn't the Williamsburg show or the Webster Hall show, that's for sure.

Glad I got to see them but definitely glad I didn't waste my time with both nights.