Brian on defensive in Rocksound

from http://www.rocksound.tv/news/article/the-gaslight-anthem-defend-venue-upgrade/


The Gaslight Anthem Defend Venue Upgrade

The Gaslight Anthem vocalist Brian Fallon has commented on the idea of intimacy at live shows. Wanna know what he said?

Posted Friday, 2 April 2010

The Gaslight Anthem vocalist Brian Fallon has commented on criticism the band have received after the London show on their UK tour was upgraded to meet fan's demands for tickets.

"People are mad at us for it but we didn’t want a line of people queuing round the venues," the singer remarks. "I never said we are going to play small venues for the rest of our lives so we can keep it intimate with you. I will be intimate with you if I bump into you on the street and you want to talk about something important, but I don’t get it about the intimate venue thing. When I see Clapton I want to see him in a huge venue, I don’t want to see The Clash in my basement. I never got that."

For more on The Gaslight Anthem check out Issue 134 of the magazine, on sale now!

Well put, if people want to see a band give them the best opportunity possible , saying we are only going to play small venues would be a bit stupid.

Holland wrote:

Well put, if people want to see a band give them the best opportunity possible , saying we are only going to play small venues would be a bit stupid.

That's fine. The issue that Brian should perhaps have addressed is 'upgrading'. When you buy a ticket, you also take the venue into account, at least when there is a tour on and venues aren't too far apart. Is it fair that fans have to see a band in a venue they would not have chosen to see them in, had they known, but which they now have to seen them in because the band got upgraded to that venue? Adding dates is much fairer in that respect. Or, even better, estimating correctly what size venue will be required.

I'm sure all the fans that got tickets are heartbroken that they're going to see their favorite band in concert.

i dont really understand why its become such an issue that brian would need to speak out about it. but i do understand the wish to see your favorite band still playing smaller, more intimate shows. i think a lot of people feel that way, especially if you spent your teen years going to lots of small, basement, dive bar punk shows.

I understand why Gaslight fans would love to see them in smaller intimate shows. However I doubt any Gaslight fan would actually berate the band for wanting to choose bigger venues and make as much of themselves as they can.

I understand the whole changing benue thing however, adding dates may not have been possible and a sell out so early is bound to leave people dissapointed. Catch 22.

yeah, i was hoping everyone would hate this new album and they'd play smaller places again for my own benefit. as it turns out im the one being disappointed with the single so far. lol

i would love to see clapton or the clash in a basement, just for the record

Sure, me too. But I would also have no qualms about seeing The Clash in a monster arena.

me either my friend me either

I dont get how this has become such an issue. I brought tickets to see them at the forum and thats what I thought I was going to get. I really dislike Brixton as a venue not just because of its size but thats anther matter. I dont berate the fact they want to play to a bigger audience but like someone said add anther date.

I suppose im not to fussed im going with my Girlfriend who gets to see a band she loves for first time (last time the ticket company fucked up and sent her tickets for the wrong venue) and luckily im staying over night cause Brixton is a lot more hassle to get back home from (anther reason I dislike it)

simo wrote:

I'm sure all the fans that got tickets are heartbroken that they're going to see their favorite band in concert.

exactly! at the end of the day they're playing live for our benifit. personally i'd have loved the forum just cos i'm not keen on brixton but at least it's not wembly or the 02 arena! yes brixton's not as good a venue & it's not as easy to get home from but it'll still be a ruddy great gig!