TGA/THC/BF stuff that sucked ;-)

Commander Vimes wrote:

The Bristol shows this March were on the shitty side. They finished at 9:30 and then I had to wait 2 and a half hours for just Benny to come out who, when asked, said that he didn't know where the rest of the guys were.

Also, the 'and what's left for god to preach from his throne' bit of National Anthem; what happened to Brian not mentioning his beliefs in Gaslight songs? Unless I'm misinterpreting that; I don't listen to that song much.

From reading this thread, it seems fortunate that I'm absolutely tone deaf and can't hear key changes or anything like that.

They FINISHED at 9:30? really? half the shows i've seen them do, they haven't even started until 9:30. That seems odd. But i hear you on the waiting 2 hours. Thing is though, i consider all that stuff a bonus. like if they flat out said "nah, we can't be bothered with you guys" then I'd understand it as a criticism because that's rude, but in general I think it's an unfair criticism. Benny is not the other guys' keeper, and none of them are required to even come out at all. But yeah, it does suck when you wait an they don't. I just don't think it's fair to get mad about it either.

I've thought about that part in National Anthem too, a lot haha. I'm honestly surprised the other guys were okay with that line actually. The way I interpret it (slightly based on what little I know of his religious views) he's talking about, with all the scientific facts we have at our disposal we've lost our sense of things unknown and the mystery of God because we think we know everything, and what's God's place in this new science/information filled era (if you believe that). And I think that's pretty heavy religious content because it provokes discussion, as opposed to just using the imagery like he does in THC song "Crush".

But since I know you really don't like religion (as is true for many others on here) I think you can more loosely look at it as a reference to the idea that we've gotten so caught up in this technological world, that we've lost a lot of our sense of self, our connection as human beings etc. It's a looser and probably less accurate interpretation but I think the meaning is the same.

Haha, I don't think you have to be tone deaf to not be bothered by the key change. Idk, it may have bothered me if it were stuck in the middle of the album, but not at the end.

Yozzy wrote:

TO GET BACK ON TOPIC HOW ABOUT THEM CUTTING OUT THAT THIRD VERSE ON BILOXI PARISH, COME ON BOYS, WE LOVED THAT VERSE.

Haha, I loved that verse too but the newer one is much more EPIC. My criticism is that I don't see how it fits content-wise. But Biloxi feels almost too long and dragging with the original now. I don't know I can't complain because I have bother versions and enjoy both.

They went off for the encore at 9. I checked my watch and thought, "Fuck, this is gunna be one hell of an encore!" It wasn't.  

I should just add on to the waiting outside thing: It was maybe 5 degrees and raining slightly (I could see my breath), there was about 4 people waiting including me on crutches and a young guy in a wheelchair who looked frozen! The wait seemed a bit harsh to me. If there was a lot of people there or if it had been a warm summer night, I'd understand. Even if they'd got the roadies or security just to update us with whether they were gunna come out or not. By the time Benny came out, my painkillers had long worn off and I ended up holding onto his arm for support (embarrassing but hey). As a result, my smile in the photo looks really forced and I don't pass in the slightest. I'd consider it an extra with most musicians, but there's a lot of stuff that I assume I'm gunna get with Gaslight that'd be an extra with a lot of musicians.

Yeah, that verse puzzled me. At first I thought it was meant to be metaphorical, as in, using God for something more than the homo sapain experience (if you get what I mean). As in, if we continue to try and discover everything, we will loose what makes us humans? But now I'm fairly certain you're right, which honestly wouldn't bother me if it was Brian solo or the Horrible Crowes, it's just that he (in my opinion) put his religious views into an non-religious band.

Trust me, I can't even make out one note from another...

Yozzy wrote:

TO GET BACK ON TOPIC HOW ABOUT THEM CUTTING OUT THAT THIRD VERSE ON BILOXI PARISH, COME ON BOYS, WE LOVED THAT VERSE.

That was an amazing verse... I listen to that version probably more than the final.

To me when Brian mentions God in National Anthem it's a part of his first stab at writing about larger scale societal problems. It kinda fits with the theme of the song, and i think it's not meant to be religious in use, more of a tool to highlight a feeling of uncertainty about the future. I like the perspective it gives, making "what's left for God to teach from his throne" seem almost like Brian and us, the listeners, are looking down at our country and not sure how everything's gonna work out.

I really like it as the album closer, it's a real change of pace both in theme and sound

I also have this idea that every final track on each Gaslight/Crowes album is a bit of a hint on how the next album will sound.
Red At Night dips into Brian's roots and references other artists (the Mermaid Avenue record) just like the '59 Sound
The Backseat is a hint for the huge atmospheric guitar leads and backing vocals that populate American Slang
We Did It When We Were Young dips into the amazing vocals and really moody arrangements that we all love Elsie for. I think that song is really ahead of its time.
And I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together reminds of the really personal and intense lyrics that we saw on Handwritten, as well the more layered instrumentation and solemn nature of Handwritten, no matter how quiet or loud the songs on that album were.
As for National Anthem, I guess we'll find out. My prediction is that the songs are gonna be really classic rock inspired (Led Zeppelin, The Who) as well as some very dark and folksy acoustic-based songs, maybe some stuff rearranged from the scrapped Fallon solo album. Maybe Halloween themed. Possibly all in standard tuning! lol

we should just change this topic to speculation and theories about songs haha

@Harbortown I think if they added Ian during American Slang, that would've really helped to muscle up their sound for those songs. I really want to hear more of those songs live with the current lineup, i think they'd sound amazing. And I love hearing the more technical guitar and song structure talk, keep it coming

Commander Vimes wrote:

They went off for the encore at 9. I checked my watch and thought, "Fuck, this is gunna be one hell of an encore!" It wasn't.  

I should just add on to the waiting outside thing: It was maybe 5 degrees and raining slightly (I could see my breath), there was about 4 people waiting including me on crutches and a young guy in a wheelchair who looked frozen! The wait seemed a bit harsh to me. If there was a lot of people there or if it had been a warm summer night, I'd understand. Even if they'd got the roadies or security just to update us with whether they were gunna come out or not. By the time Benny came out, my painkillers had long worn off and I ended up holding onto his arm for support (embarrassing but hey). As a result, my smile in the photo looks really forced and I don't pass in the slightest. I'd consider it an extra with most musicians, but there's a lot of stuff that I assume I'm gunna get with Gaslight that'd be an extra with a lot of musicians.

Yeah, that verse puzzled me. At first I thought it was meant to be metaphorical, as in, using God for something more than the homo sapain experience (if you get what I mean). As in, if we continue to try and discover everything, we will loose what makes us humans? But now I'm fairly certain you're right, which honestly wouldn't bother me if it was Brian solo or the Horrible Crowes, it's just that he (in my opinion) put his religious views into an non-religious band.

Trust me, I can't even make out one note from another...

I get what you mean. By coming out as often as they do, it's more of a let down when they don't, and while that's okay in some situations, it's lousy when you're obviously going especially out of your way to see them. I wasn't on crutches and it wasn't raining but otherwise I had a similar experience at the recent Rhode Island show. While we were waiting there we wished that a roadie or someone would just come out and say they weren't coming out. We'd have understood. We were all just afraid of leaving right before they would decide to come out. But I still think, as frustrating as it is, it's not their job to come out after. Expectations are different than obligations. I don't know, that's just my opinion.

Well if you think about it, religious references pop up in non-religious bands, A LOT. And by non-relgious I mean they're not like christian rock or something because TGA is technically at least half religious as in Brian and Alex L. both believe in God. So in that sense it's not all that out of place. However, if you mean you don't like that he's expressing religious views that the other guys may not share, then I have to say I imagine they'd have said something about it if it made them uncomfortable and the lyric would've been left out. Maybe they decided that it's also metaphorical so in that sense it's okay by them?

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Well if you think about it, religious references pop up in non-religious bands, A LOT. And by non-relgious I mean they're not like christian rock or something because TGA is technically at least half religious as in Brian and Alex L. both believe in God. So in that sense it's not all that out of place. However, if you mean you don't like that he's expressing religious views that the other guys may not share, then I have to say I imagine they'd have said something about it if it made them uncomfortable and the lyric would've been left out. Maybe they decided that it's also metaphorical so in that sense it's okay by them?

When I said non-religious I meant literally non-religious; they have no religious affiliations. I know Alex L and Brian are religious and I don't know about Alex R but from what I get from Benny's blog, he's an atheist/humanist. They're not like The Loved Ones, Chuck Ragan or Bruce Springsteen where, despite not being in a 'religious genre', you'd be almost disappointed if there was an album free of religious references. I dislike the fact that he, depending on how you interpret it, put his religious views in a Gaslight album having previous stated he would not do so.

I think I probably just have too much of an intolerance for a lot of religion so when it popped up in my favourite band, it bugged me more than it should've.

DeathoftheCool wrote:

To me when Brian mentions God in National Anthem it's a part of his first stab at writing about larger scale societal problems. It kinda fits with the theme of the song, and i think it's not meant to be religious in use, more of a tool to highlight a feeling of uncertainty about the future. I like the perspective it gives, making "what's left for God to teach from his throne" seem almost like Brian and us, the listeners, are looking down at our country and not sure how everything's gonna work out.

That's interesting; thanks for that interpretation. I'm probably gunna go with this from now on!