How big are the Gaslight Anthem?

Similar theme to the thread regarding Hyde park/Glastonbury success, but quite how big are the boys in the grand scheme of things.

We seem to notice alot of media related stuff about them but is that because we're aware of the name, are they getting as big coverage as we believe or do they get the same as other fairly unknown bands?

None of my mates know of them in the slightest, the only people who do are those I have mentioned to.

Palmer89 wrote:

None of my mates know of them in the slightest, the only people who do are those I have mentioned to.

That's true, same for me.
It seems they are getting a little more known. Slowly.
In the UK definitely, through festivals and magazine articles.
Maybe people know the name more so now without knowing who exactly they are/their songs. If that make sense. :/

it's very difficult to say, with no new album out and no tour on the back of a new album

yes, they are playing all the festivals, they have some good press, they have a North American tour coming up, and the Boss supported them, but in the overall scheme of things the real measure is how many albums they sell and how big a headline tour they can sell out

2010 will tell

afterthought: when we can't talk to them anymore before or after a show, because of security, then they are really big

I look forward to 2010.

well i got to say they got a lot more popular in austria and germany bringing out the 59-sound.
i know that from an appreciationgroup @ studivz, a social networkingsite, and the size of the group has been multiplying since the new album came out.

and last time when i went to the city to go on a feast, i met a guy who knew them and asked (because i wore a t-shirt of tga) me if "old white lincoln" was their superhit.

so i guess it's already working

I'd say they're a moderately sized act. They're more of a household name than they were a year ago. Keep in mind that since May 30 2008, the first time they sold out their home court, Asbury Lanes, they've released The '59 Sound, played with Bruce twice, done a hell of a lot of touring, interviews and acoustic appearances. It's been a big 400 days for them, bigger than any band in recent memory.

But like you guys said, 2010 will tell

2010 will be a BIG year, a great album next year with higher up festival slots could make them into the big time.

Hopefully there won't come a time when they have to stop talking to the fans, I can't imagine them sitting out front of a bar now though and being left alone much.

steady now steady now wrote:

when we can't talk to them anymore before or after a show, because of security, then they are really big

Probably right. No matter how big they get I always see them making time for fans though. This is a question I've wondered about for a while, and I'm interested to see what others think. In my 'local' ladder of arenas, they've played rung 3 of 7, where 7 is outdoor stadium (i.e. Springsteen level) and 6 is arena (i.e. Killers, Kings of Leon). I can see them getting to 5 with ease. Any further? Not a clue.

Well "great" to us and great to rock critics are two totally different things. The buzz propelled them to get noticed by MTV, Rolling Stone and the like, they tend to agree with the public as far as discovering bands go. The next album though, when they get their hands on it may be a different story, sadly. I hope it won't be but rock critics are a bunch of cynical assholes, who knows what they'll say

Vibes wrote:

Well "great" to us and great to rock critics are two totally different things. The buzz propelled them to get noticed by MTV, Rolling Stone and the like, they tend to agree with the public as far as discovering bands go. The next album though, when they get their hands on it may be a different story, sadly. I hope it won't be but rock critics are a bunch of cynical assholes, who knows what they'll say

Correct. I despise critics.

Tomaldo wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

when we can't talk to them anymore before or after a show, because of security, then they are really big

Probably right. No matter how big they get I always see them making time for fans though. This is a question I've wondered about for a while, and I'm interested to see what others think. In my 'local' ladder of arenas, they've played rung 3 of 7, where 7 is outdoor stadium (i.e. Springsteen level) and 6 is arena (i.e. Killers, Kings of Leon). I can see them getting to 5 with ease. Any further? Not a clue.

5 you mean Brixton academy big? I can see them doing that easily if things keeping snowballing like they have been for them.

I reckon if they got to the point of playing Brixton they'd actually go for the slightly larger Hammersmith Apollo, Brian's said in interviews that that's the big one here in the UK as far as he's concerned.

kieran wrote:

Tomaldo wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

when we can't talk to them anymore before or after a show, because of security, then they are really big

Probably right. No matter how big they get I always see them making time for fans though. This is a question I've wondered about for a while, and I'm interested to see what others think. In my 'local' ladder of arenas, they've played rung 3 of 7, where 7 is outdoor stadium (i.e. Springsteen level) and 6 is arena (i.e. Killers, Kings of Leon). I can see them getting to 5 with ease. Any further? Not a clue.

5 you mean Brixton academy big? I can see them doing that easily if things keeping snowballing like they have been for them.

I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with the Brixton Academy (assume that a London venue!)! 5 is Manchester Apollo standard.

If I had to guess, I would say that they are still a bit under the radar, even though the '59 sound was on a bunch of year end lists last year. If they keep making good music eventually they become a bigger name but i dont think they even care about how much fame or attention they get.

In the grand scheme of things, I find that their still relatively unknown. They've gotten a lot of coverage with the festivals recently, and hopefully Hard Rock playing main stage did them a lot of good. But apart from 3 people I know, not many people know them, and if they do, they probably just know the song "59 Sound".

For people who pay attention to music, Gaslight's name will be a recognizeable one but for those just cruising the radio, they'll have no idea.

In America I'd say that TGA could sell out 1000-1500 person venues in most places (the south, not included), in Europe though they're much bigger

I'd say 90% of my mates don't know who TGA are, I wouldn't say they aren't into their music either.

Same with Frank Turner, seems like he's well known will music people but I doubt any of my mates know him.

Even some of my mates who are well into their music don't know them, in fact if it wasn't for me I don't think a single one of my mates would know the name.

I kinda like it that they to be honest, don't want it to get to the stage (not that TGA ever will) where it becomes popular to dislike them (ala Green Day) or they become too big that everyone thinks they're TGA's biggest fan...

It's the kind of thing where you surround yourself with a particular group of people, you think that whatever you guys support is a lot bigger than it actually is. We surround ourself with Gaslight fans so we tend to think of them as larger than they are.

You have to seek out their music if you really want it. Most radio stations don't play their type of music. That being said, they've made such significant progress in the past year with The '59 Sound that they're undoubtedly bigger than they were last year.

They're not a household name like Rise Against or Green Day yet but they will be if they continue on the same path.

As for disliking Green Day, there's one (well, plenty of them but here's one) huge difference between Gaslight and Green Day: Gaslight believes in the ethos of punk rock. They've said many times that they don't see themselves as different from the kids that come to the shows. Frank Turner says the same. So as big as the two artists get, they'll always stay true to their roots (I hope, and I trust that they will) whereas Green Day plays an arena, goes to the autograph signing, signs a few hundred and then gets on a bus to leave. At this point they're in it for the money, just look at their crappy music that they put out. Gaslight on the other hand isn't that style, I don't think.

I'm a huge Green Day fan, I can tell where you're coming from but I don't think Green Day have completley lost touch with their fans yet, they admitted signing that record deal in the late 90's was a mistake.

Obviously there new music isn't to everyones taste, the new album is very hit and miss (got some stunning songs on it, some awful), they did play some small shows as Foxboro Hot Tubs though a year ago, small venues and chatted with fans for ages which they said was the best gigs they had played for ages because of the intimacy and fan atmostphere.

It's just that signing to Warner Brothers means they no longer have any flexibility to do anything, they will rue that mistake for the rest of their lives, but won't ruin my liking of them, still the best live band on the planet for me, in some way their success is playing to their downfall amongst their old fanbase.

I agree however that Gaslight do seem very different to Green Day, Green Day were a bunch of cheeky ego pop punk kids, Gaslight seem far more down to earth and genuinly playing for the fun of it, respect for TGA turning down big contracts from record companies.

I really enjoyed the Foxboro Hottubs album. I'm glad they did that, took things in a different direction. Their heyday to me will always be the early-late 90's.

Vibes wrote:

It's the kind of thing where you surround yourself with a particular group of people, you think that whatever you guys support is a lot bigger than it actually is. We surround ourself with Gaslight fans so we tend to think of them as larger than they are.

You have to seek out their music if you really want it. Most radio stations don't play their type of music. That being said, they've made such significant progress in the past year with The '59 Sound that they're undoubtedly bigger than they were last year.

Both excellent points.

My friends have only heard of the Gaslight Anthem because of how much I go on about them!

"It's the kind of thing where you surround yourself with a particular group of people, you think that whatever you guys support is a lot bigger than it actually is. We surround ourself with Gaslight fans so we tend to think of them as larger than they are."

> true, but somehow this does'nt count for me. no one of the people i know, know tga and here in this forum there are less than 500 registrated users. that seems a lot, especially, when you get to discuss with all of them, but those are fans from all over the world (most us and uk of course) and related to those countrie's populations, it's like nothing.


so except for this tga-fanforum and another one in german, none of the people I know do know that tga even exist (that counts for austria and germany). so let's say they are still quite unknown, but they made a huge jump after bringing out the 59' sound.

just some examples:
the tga-appreciation group @ studivz had around 150 members after sink or swim came out. now, after bringing out the 59' sound and after having played all their gigs at festivals in germany and austria, the size has grown nearly ten times.

one evening i went out to the city in graz to the "musichouse" (a bar, pub playing rock, punk etc only) and they really played old white lincoln (that's like 2 months ago). i study in my city now for 3 years and i never tga played anywhere.

so i guess it's working, but slowly =)

Unfortunately I don't really know anybody in real life that are into them much...I've introduced the band to others but so far the people that like them most are my parents.

There's virtually no "indie" scene around here though so perhaps my local area isn't the best representation.

Vibes wrote:

I really enjoyed the Foxboro Hottubs album. I'm glad they did that, took things in a different direction. Their heyday to me will always be the early-late 90's.

Oddly enough I actually think I prefer it to ANY Green Day album (other than maybe Kerplunk), probably because they did it just to do something they wanted and have some fun with it and relax after touring, it seems to come out in the album.

I do wonder whether Gaslight will become a band that is played on Kerrang and Scuzz constantly over the next few years or whether they'll just continue to be a slightly underground punk rock band, I guess their next album will suggest which way they go.

I would have thought they'd be bigger than they are already, been in NME and Kerrang quite alot around this part of the world.

They could become a 'cult' band, which would be pretty cool... 'people who are into TGA are very into TGA' (read this on Punknews I think).