why no new songs on tour?

In his interview with NME, which has just been published, Brian answers the following question:

NME: I've seen you five times this year, in London and New York, but you haven't played any new songs. Why not?

Brian: In the age of the internet everything is everywhere immediately, so everyone's tired of it already. Or you put out a first draft and when the finished product comes people say they preferred the old version.

I bet the people who just might say they preferred the draft may well live on this board, but as for getting tired, no way. I guess it's a shame though not hearing from someone that TGA played a new song a their last gig and hoping they'll play it when you go. Now all it takes is a rubbish clip on YouTube to spoil the fun. So yes, I see his point.

I don't know why but I prefer tight organizations. Apple, The Gaslight Anthem, etc.

Less Than Jake released about half of their upcoming album three or four years ago through various outlets, the tracks were recorded and distributed and by the time the actual record came out I was sick of about half of it.

Now that Gaslight is probably going to do 1 record every two years it doesn't make sense for them to leak even one track because that's 1/12 of your new material for the upcoming years. You know?

I actually really appreciate that about Gaslight. I'm dieing for new songs but I don't want to hear a leak and have the new album ruined. Plus, from a writing standpoint it would be extremely frustrating if your song is released and then all the idiots on punknews and youtube complain how it sucks or it's different or whatever... not saying that would happen per se, but you know what I mean.

Brian just needs to throw a couple new solo tunes up on his myspace and I'll be happy for a while.

im gonna ditto what everyone else has already said.
its kind of like searching for your christmas presents...i was never one of those kids who would try and find where there parents hid their christmas presents and shake it and guess what it was or try and open it. it kills the surprise. that may be a stupid analogy for this situation but i think you get the point! i want to be excited to hear the whole next record when i buy it.
i think i can tough it out til next year, ive been playing 59 sound and satq enough lately that im craving some sink or swim...thats how it always goes. i listen to one long enough that i start going "i need to listen to the other one!" instead of putting in another band. ha.

whenever a new song or two leaks or is put up on a band's myspace, i listen to it once and then don't listen to it again until the entire album leaks/is out. i've made the mistake of listening to one song too much before and gotten sick of what may be the best song on the album

Streetlight Manifesto did an interesting thing with the songs for Somewhere In the Between. they would play 1-2 minute versions of their new songs at shows until the album came out (their songs are usually 4-5 minutes long), and they only played snippets of 3 separate songs live before the album came out

and that was the last album that i actually did not listen to the leak and waited until i had the album in my hands before i playing it. and i played it 3 times back-to-back the day i got it with a gigantic smile on my face at how awesome the album was

i agree with that guy about streetlight, what they did with their new songs. it was funny, sometime last year i got see gaslight on one day and streetlight the very next. seriously i almost died of over-happiness! but it was weird how they've both got simaler-ish names (gaslight, streetlight) and both come from new jersey, around the brunswick area? thats just a name to me but me and my friend were speculating if they might know each other since most bands in my area seem to at least be acquaintances of each other, just a weird thought...

timewast wrote:

i agree with that guy about streetlight, what they did with their new songs. it was funny, sometime last year i got see gaslight on one day and streetlight the very next. seriously i almost died of over-happiness! but it was weird how they've both got simaler-ish names (gaslight, streetlight) and both come from new jersey, around the brunswick area? thats just a name to me but me and my friend were speculating if they might know each other since most bands in my area seem to at least be acquaintances of each other, just a weird thought...

Cue Brian Fallon Keasbey Nights cover?

haha...that would be pretty sweet.

Also you can't sing along to new songs...

Tomaldo wrote:

Also you can't sing along to new songs...

just about, if there is a catchy line in the chorus or at the end

when my boots ...

steph wrote:

its kind of like searching for your christmas presents...i was never one of those kids who would try and find where there parents hid their christmas presents and shake it and guess what it was or try and open it. it kills the surprise. that may be a stupid analogy for this situation but i think you get the point! i want to be excited to hear the whole next record when i buy it.

That sums it up pretty well I think.

I've made the mistake before of listening to clips of songs and singles too much before the actuall albums comes out and not liking the whole thing as much as I could. Not with Gaslight though.

I know Kings Of Leon don't play new songs live 'cos they said they said it ruins it when they appear in bootlegs online before their actual release. I kind of agree with this.

yeah i think maybe this is something bands could have done in the past, but with modern technology and the way we can record and share things online, its not just letting the fans at your show hear a new song, youre basically releasing the song for the world to hear now.

I don't know, I think it goes both ways. While I like to be surprised when the album comes out, I also like to hear how a song evolved.

For example, I remember downloading a quick clip from a Streetlight show. The opening horn part later became Down, Down, Down to Mephisto's Cafe. I listened to that clip a billion times. Then like 3 years later the album came out, and I nearly crapped myself when I heard that same horn part in the song.

But I think it works a bit better for a band like Streetlight, play a bit of horn part here and there and you don't give too much away. It is tougher for a band like Gaslight.