Lollapalooza 2012

Jerseyrain wrote:

Klown wrote:

plugga wrote:

but damn that's just what happens when bands have more than one album out

Dunno, could be the latest thing to try and get us all to hate them, so they don't have to talk to us.

Do I detect a note of sarcasm haha

What? Moi?

When it comes to setlist shuffling, we absolutely have nothing to complain about with TGA! A lot of bands have very predictable selists, Gaslight changes it for almost every tour. And yes, no Sink or Swim, let's not pretend that they never play Sink or Swim songs (in the 6 times that I've seen them, I think I heard 8 or 9 out of 12 SoS songs (and every show other ones), so that's really not a bad number). The show in New York on July 30th had 4 SoS songs (two of which (Woody and Angry Johnny) haven't been played for quite a while), which is not bad at all for their least known album that is already five years old. But this is a festival set, and some changes have to be made in order to be able to play new songs, which is necessary for this band to stay alive. And which is good too, because it gives them a fresh start and (for me), those new songs are great as well.

So, in all fairness, what's the real problem here? My point being: I think a lot of criticism comes way too fast, way too easily. Virtually every thing that is happening with these guys seems good enough of an argument to accuse them of being sellouts. One album that actually makes the charts, two singles that receive a little bit (not even that much) of airplay, and suddenly they're becoming this Coldplay-like mainstream band that doesn't respect it's old work and old fans. But hey, roll your eyes if you want to, I prefer to enjoy the evolution instead of stubbornly wanting them to stay the same for ever. Which wouldn't work, anyway...

Sorry if I'm coming on a little bit harsh now, just think this had to be said.

bobbyw24 wrote:

Audio link is here (sorryno song separation)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ao9eg3se0at403s

This link is invalid

plugga wrote:

not trying to make excuses but it's a festival and people want to hear the songs they know because not everyone in the audience is a huge fan, I just don't understand why they played too much blood (which I loved btw, I think it's much better live).

One of my new favs. Probably played it to showcase song diversity; with the riff, slowed down chorus, and length.

all complaints aside, great performance. in my opinion brians voice just gets better and better. speaking of voices, it was good to finally hear alex, sounded really good.

JJW319 wrote:

plugga wrote:

not trying to make excuses but it's a festival and people want to hear the songs they know because not everyone in the audience is a huge fan, I just don't understand why they played too much blood (which I loved btw, I think it's much better live).

One of my new favs. Probably played it to showcase song diversity; with the riff, slowed down chorus, and length.

also very happy to hear this song was played, one of the best from handwritten.

mingus wrote:

So, in all fairness, what's the real problem here? My point being: I think a lot of criticism comes way too fast, way too easily. Virtually every thing that is happening with these guys seems good enough of an argument to accuse them of being sellouts. One album that actually makes the charts, two singles that receive a little bit (not even that much) of airplay, and suddenly they're becoming this Coldplay-like mainstream band that doesn't respect it's old work and old fans. But hey, roll your eyes if you want to, I prefer to enjoy the evolution instead of stubbornly wanting them to stay the same for ever. Which wouldn't work, anyway...

Sorry if I'm coming on a little bit harsh now, just think this had to be said.

i completely agree.

Must have missed that link to the audio as it isn't working anymore.

To be fair about Too Much Blood, I'm not a huge fan of the song, but when someone saw that I clearly recognized it, he leaned over and asked me the name. I told him, and he said "Wow. It's really great."

I had a great time at the show! I was actually there as media, and chose to stand in front row instead of watching from the press area, because I thought the press area was too far away haha. I'll let you guys know when the review goes up.

Anyway, the easy highlight for me was when Brian threw in part of Dear Chicago during Old White Lincoln. It's my all time favorite Ryan Adams song.

mingus wrote:

When it comes to setlist shuffling, we absolutely have nothing to complain about with TGA! A lot of bands have very predictable selists, Gaslight changes it for almost every tour. And yes, no Sink or Swim, let's not pretend that they never play Sink or Swim songs (in the 6 times that I've seen them, I think I heard 8 or 9 out of 12 SoS songs (and every show other ones), so that's really not a bad number). The show in New York on July 30th had 4 SoS songs (two of which (Woody and Angry Johnny) haven't been played for quite a while), which is not bad at all for their least known album that is already five years old.

Not sure where you got your info on Woody and Angry Johnny but both have been played quite a bit this year. Angry Johnny was played at nearly every headlining show and Woody over half of them. I'd guess only Wooderson and We Came To Dance were played more. Drive, Navesink and Diner were all played a fair amount this summer. On the so-called "old favorites" tour, Contender, 1930, Red In The Morning and Red At Night weren't played at all.

Quote :

But this is a festival set, and some changes have to be made in order to be able to play new songs, which is necessary for this band to stay alive. And which is good too, because it gives them a fresh start and (for me), those new songs are great as well.

The only real changes have been dropping American Slang songs and adding Handwritten songs though. All The '59 Sound staples are still there.

Quote :

So, in all fairness, what's the real problem here? My point being: I think a lot of criticism comes way too fast, way too easily. Virtually every thing that is happening with these guys seems good enough of an argument to accuse them of being sellouts. One album that actually makes the charts, two singles that receive a little bit (not even that much) of airplay, and suddenly they're becoming this Coldplay-like mainstream band that doesn't respect it's old work and old fans. But hey, roll your eyes if you want to, I prefer to enjoy the evolution instead of stubbornly wanting them to stay the same for ever. Which wouldn't work, anyway...

Sorry if I'm coming on a little bit harsh now, just think this had to be said.

There's no problem. No one called them sellouts and no one said they're abandoning old songs/fans. Pointing out the lack of those songs in festival sets isn't harsh criticism, it's a fact. And as I mentioned before, it's nothing new. You are right about them doing a decent job with their headlining sets though. They have put certain songs in the same spots over and over but overall they do a pretty great job of rotating the older songs in and mixing up the encores every night.

My hope for them playing older songs has nothing to do with hoping things stay the same, it has to do with them surprising fans and mixing up entire setlists. I'd love for them to be spontaneous and be able to play any song at any point during the show. Yes, I know other bands play the same setlist every show and not every band can be Pearl Jam or Bruce. So we've got it pretty good as Gaslight fans but I want them to be the best they can be, not settling for somewhere in between.

stephendgaf wrote:

all complaints aside, great performance. in my opinion brians voice just gets better and better. speaking of voices, it was good to finally hear alex, sounded really good.

Glad someone else noticed that you could finally hear him! I was so shocked. He sounded much better than he did in the past. Maybe he's been working on it? Good for him either way. It's nice to hear his voice for once. And Brian's voice sounded awesome.

Also, I LOVE Too Much Blood, but Live? It blows me away. I think it's good they played it. Festival crowds might not all be huge fans but why not introduce them to new stuff so they have the chance to become a bigger fan? It's not like half the set was from Handwritten.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

stephendgaf wrote:

all complaints aside, great performance. in my opinion brians voice just gets better and better. speaking of voices, it was good to finally hear alex, sounded really good.

Glad someone else noticed that you could finally hear him! I was so shocked. He sounded much better than he did in the past. Maybe he's been working on it? Good for him either way. It's nice to hear his voice for once. And Brian's voice sounded awesome.

Also, I LOVE Too Much Blood, but Live? It blows me away. I think it's good they played it. Festival crowds might not all be huge fans but why not introduce them to new stuff so they have the chance to become a bigger fan? It's not like half the set was from Handwritten.

Agree here, didn't notice it was Alex L. singing when I watched the stream...but I watched the performace again now and yeah, he sounds pretty good Loved Handwritten too, it was much better than I expected.

Up there with the 2010 Area 4 show for my favorite pro-shot festival performance.


Little things I liked:

The Dear Chicago bit in Old white lincoln was perfectly executed, as was the U2 part in Backseat.

The spoken word part of Howl is so cool live. Brian just looked so passionate and nostalgic during that.

The end of Too Much Blood "If I put too much blood on the page....again"...I don't know why but this performance really made me think of the significance of that "again" at the end, it really is kinda important to the song.

don't fret on lollapalooza's setlist.. pukkelpop, lowlands, & area 4 will probably all be streamed in a few weeks.. expect longer sets with older songs back in the mix for those.

It's just a setlist, enjoy what you get, and enjoy the ride.

Unless you hate Handwritten I don't get why people wouldn't want more of those songs played rather than old songs at this point in the game...I understand a year from now wanting more balance, but we don't have professionally filmed videos of songs like Keepsake and Mae when we do for a good amount of SoS songs. Why not see what they are like live?

Photos and music review of TGA @ Lolla


This is a good festival. I like this one," Brian Fallon said toward the end of his set. He's one of few people here who's earned the right to speak so flippantly about an opportunity like Lolla. His whole shtick is being a normal Jersey boy, a guy with problems and heartaches just like ours...and yeah, right. He's anything but normal. But just like with the Boss, he convinces us otherwise with every song. These are songs about our aspirations, our losses, and our loves. So why can't we write them, too? Good pop music always creates that feeling, like we could've written it ourselves, and that's also why cynics (speaking) are often so quick to dismiss catchy, listenable tunes like these. "Anyone can do likable shit," we say. But few can carry it from Jersey to Chi Town, and get us all to listen like this, to sing along, unembarrased and unironic, because we suddenly find it necessary.

Many more pics and review:

http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/audio-file-blog/15541401/the-gaslight-anthem-at-lollapalooza-2012-photos-and-music-r

I like that review a lot. Although I find it funny that he thinks their records (other than maybe the last two) are too polished. And I think even people who have it very good or are very lucky like Brian or Bruce are allowed to have heartaches haha.

eagles1139 wrote:

Up there with the 2010 Area 4 show for my favorite pro-shot festival performance.


Little things I liked:

The Dear Chicago bit in Old white lincoln was perfectly executed, as was the U2 part in Backseat.

The spoken word part of Howl is so cool live. Brian just looked so passionate and nostalgic during that.

The end of Too Much Blood "If I put too much blood on the page....again"...I don't know why but this performance really made me think of the significance of that "again" at the end, it really is kinda important to the song.

I thought the same thing about "again". Like thinking of past mistakes and regrets when it comes to writing.

the Dear Chicago bit in OWL is awesome!

The standard two-part closer with Here's Looking at You and The Backseat is absolutely made perfect by adding Too Much Blood as a three-song closer to end live sets. Perfection.

Here's my review (it was actually published a few days ago, but I was hesitant to post it. You guys are an intimidating group when it comes to reviews about Gaslight. And, frankly, it's hard to review one of your favorite bands): http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/58736/lollapalooza-2012.html

And here are my personal photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasminefoxedme/sets/72157631037657348/

Great photos! Nice to see them smiling and enjoying themselves

Thanks for sharing Ashley! Loved the whole Lollapalooza review and especially the photos. They really, really seemed to be having a great time and that's one of the reasons I thought their set was so incredible.