EU tour 2014

I wanna get on a plane and catch a couple of shows...

i am sorry but they played misery again... was fantastic at michelle records. even better than the last time. so excited for tonight !

I hear the band played their set in Halloween costumes? Can anyone confirm?

EDIT: Just saw the You Tube vids.

sinkorswimmydear wrote:

i am sorry but they played misery again... was fantastic at michelle records. even better than the last time. so excited for tonight !

Haha, I'm actually glad to know it's being played more than once. This song can't be a one time special event! It's too good for that.

Hamburg was a good gig again. They played 27 songs with a quite similar setlist like in Berlin but in a different order. They took a request for Drive from the audience (3 guys made a sign) and left off Stray Paper for it.

Only some 10 drunk guys middle/front were extremely annoying, shouting in general, yelling Bruce specifically, "singing" a hard-sounding "Hey Hey Hey" chorus during the slow guitar part of She Loves You (at around 1:30) and ruining the birthday surprise we've had planned for Benny.

These guys were just really rude in general, also to everyone around them in the audience and unfortunately ruined the gig for me (as much as I wanted to snap out of it but my stupid head wouldn't let me). But Brian handled the partly difficult audience and specifically these rude guys extremely well! 

After 2 gigs I can say that to me the band sounds perfect, in terms of music and especially Brian's voice. Ian and Brad do a great job covering for Alex and it's pure joy to watch them all enjoy themselves so much on stage. I love that they decided to skip the encore because for me that makes the whole set more homogenous and "tighter". And the setlists were a perfect mix for me as well, I'm very happy that they decided to add more songs of Get Hurt again. If now the 4 remaining Get Hurt songs I haven't heard live so far will appear on the setlist of the gigs I'm still going to, that would make me very happy.

So I'm very very much looking forward for the gigs yet to come!

Totally agree, enola! Is it just me or is it like that every time in HH? In 2012 it was the same with the singing of stupid german football anthems or whatever. But the "Bruce" guy was the worst. After that Brian didn't really talk to the audience anymore or when he tried he couldn't because of all the chanting. Those guys ruined parts but not the wole gig for me, though.

Apart from that it was great! Awesome setlist, energy and sound in my opinion.

The_River wrote:

mingus wrote:

Who is Brad? Tech guy?

Yes.

Find out about the amazing Brad Clifford here : http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21588-rig-rundown-the-gaslight-anthem

Brad previously played in many bands. First that comes to mind is Poison The Well. Also, he was the guitar tech for against me! on their last tour. #dothebradclifford

Personally, he annoyed me in the rig rundown. He kept interrupting Alex and wouldn't let him finish his thoughts!

In my case a last minute decision turned out to be one of the best Gaslight experiences I've ever had. Tbh I wasn't too excited for the new album at first and only wanted to do 2 or 3 shows this fall but cheap flights and left over vacation days convinced me to add 2 more. Then those acoustic gigs turned up and the rest is history! Well, what can I say... It seems the more I listen to new (maybe just new to me...) Gaslight stuff the better it gets!

I joined the bandwagon late. The first time I saw them live was at Pinkpop Festival in 2011. It was a fun gig. I missed out on the Revival Tour thing because I didn't buy tickets fast enough. So the first headline show for me was Ulm in 2012 where they played in a circus tent and it was hot, tight and sweaty and one of the most energetic shows I've ever seen! I was excited and went to several shows of the Handwritten tour which were like a box of chocolates... If you know what I mean.

You may be wondering why I go back that far to write a review about those 2 shows of the Get Hurt tour I went to. Well, Berlin reminded me of this special show... It was hot, it was tight and it was sweaty! I loved every minute! Hamburg was the same (except some idiots in the audience but as enola said Brian handled it very well) and I've got the bruises that prove how much fun I had at the barrier! I like it that they leave the encore game out and play more songs instead. I don't need a break to cool down if there's a good mixture between fast and slow songs and that was the case! The new songs sound amazing live. Also the light show is awesome and Ian and Brad fit in very well!

I'm looking forward to the next shows!

You picked a great show for your headline debut, Ulm was an epic gig!

And I totally forgot to mention the light show. Love it!!

enola wrote:

You picked a great show for your headline debut, Ulm was an epic gig!

I heard that before... I was lucky I guess!

Don't know if it's posted yet, but here an acoustic version of Selected Poems

It is already (here), but it's so good so there's no harm in posting it twice

One thing I've noticed from youtube vids is that Brad's volume is way higher than when Ian was playing guitar.

Short review regarding the Hamburg gig and pre-show.

As a "real" Hamburger it is always a pleasure to have your favorite band playing in your hometown. In Hamburg the venue "Sporthalle" is denounced for bad sound and sight. Even it changed a lot to be better, you always happen to go there with the fear of bad sound. but it turned out great.

I also went to the pre-show. We were 20 people ang got 4 songs: Great Expectations (slow version), Ain't it a shame, Too much Blood, 1930. No Q&As, no disposable camera but the ok to take pics with the mobile. I am okay with that. It was great to see the venue empty and the sound was quite impressive. With the 45rpm discount and buying two tickets I feel okay with the price, even I may have expected a little more like the Q&As but I am fine. And how awesome is the Simpsons drawing?

The main gig was great. I may have seen several TGA shows across EU and some in the US but this tour there is a mayor change in the lightning, the quality of the vocals and the keyboard even fits in well. it may even be too perfect, if this is even mentionable...

The audience was sh*+tty as enola described but as we stood not in front but at the far left side, maybe row 15, the drunken guys were not so present and their shoutings sounded more like "booo" or that other people boooed at them.

Nevertheless I enjoyed dancing the whole 2 hours along the songs and so did all other people around us. There was even a bouncing pie (aged 16 maybe) who was constantly jumping up and down. Many people knew the words and sung along.

It was stange to hear '59 Sound in a slow version and the audience sang along like it was the normale version like a second voice. The big "yeah" then came with the first tones of "45" and "Get hurt", I think. The whole set was energetic and all songs were played with much fun. I hope they can keep it that way a looooooong time.

The "Get hurt"-songs have so much more heart and soul in it played live. Brad and Ian filled in very well but Alex L. was truely missed by me.

I am not sure if everyone understood the announcement that there will be no encore. Without beeing an english mother-tongue speaker it may be difficult to understand, even we do not called it "encore" here. But most of the people were okay with that, yet a little bit irritated as the lights went on directly when the band left the stage. But everyone was allright with that.

My highlights were Howl and even the request from the audience: Drive. And Backseats is and will be the BEST song to end the set. Fullstop.

BTW The reaction of my friend, who hasn't had seen TGA live before: "Wow, they are much much better live than on CD". Yes, my dear. They are.

Photoset Berlin



http://www.rollingstone.de/magazin/galerien/article654164/the-gaslight-anthem-2014-live-in-berlin-die-fotos.html

Anyone else remember at crossroads.

"Can gaslight wear face paint?"

Bf:"no but molly and the zombies can!"

I'll let the pictures in the article speak for themselves (this link had the best pics I could find)!
But needless to say, this pretty much made my night!

http://www.blitzgigs.de/review/gaslight-anthem-columbiahalle/

And check out that amazing set list!

AngryJohnnyN1930 wrote:

I'll let the pictures in the article speak for themselves (this link had the best pics I could find)!
But needless to say, this pretty much made my night!

http://www.blitzgigs.de/review/gaslight-anthem-columbiahalle/

And check out that amazing set list!

Awesome shots. Thanks for finding that. The review however;

"...lesser played tracks such as Old White Lincoln"

Is this reviewer high?

I have added some more Vids from Berlin

Hello everyone!

So I attented yesterday's show in Bruxelles. I missed both support acts as my friends and I were coming from France, right after our day at the office.
We spotted a free space on the left balcony, literally next to the stage and we attented the whole show from there.

One of my friends is a good musician (10+ years as a drummer and bass player, also recorded lots of bands), and he knew little about TGA (apart from a few of their most famous songs).

He was really impressed by how tight they sounded, as well as by how good the sound was.  And indeed the overall sound mix was great, wide and loud but not too much.  You could hear everything, at least from where we were standing.  Brian's voice was excellent, and strong, a pleasant surprise.
To be honest, I have attended a few GA shows over the years, and I always felt like they were not great live...  But man they prove me wrong yesterday.  They were tight, Benny really knows his craft, and I have a feeling Alex has also improved a lot (no more wrong notes).

Ian and Brad did a great job filling up, Brad had a binder and he turned pages between songs, I guess it was sheets with the chords.  Brad was a little more active, moving towards the front of the stage, and "living" the music.  That was a good thing because Alex and Ian were like depressive zombies on stage.  Man if you are not happy to play, stay home!  It is such a contrast with Brian's smile and enthusiasm!

Brian seemed quite happy, he took a CD from the audience (I also managed to give him mine at the end of the show, yes!), he made a few jokes (including one about how mean pitchfork was ), also played a short but funny Steven Tyler impersonation with a scarf a girl gave him.

The setlist was cut short because of the curfew (22 tracks only - 1h30), there was no encore as Brian said he no longer wanted to do so.

The crowd was a bit disappointing, rather quiet save for the "59 sound - handwritten" bit (handwritten was not expected to be played at that point of the show, I guess Brian felt he had the audience behind him and changed his mind).  The crowd in Paris for the last show I attended was much more responsive!  


So overall a pretty good show, technically very good, musically spanning over all albums (including rarities).  I wished it had last longer and with a more active crowd, but it is just me being too demanding.

If others attended the show please feel free to correct my review as I might have missed / misunderstood things.

Cheers!

Romain.

German review of Berlin
http://rockzoom.de/gaslight-anthem-columbiahalle-31-10-2014/

Translation:
The Gaslight Anthem concerts are often a tightrope walk and can range from a solid rock show to a run through of an uninspired set list. But this Friday evening everything was different. Not only because it was Halloween. But perhaps because the quartet was warmed up already after playing 2 acoustic sets the day before at the cosy Ramones Museum and the Dodo Beach record store.

Friday was finally the day of their headline show in the Columbia Halle which was opened first by Bayside, who delivered their punk rock show as if they were the headliner themselves and were well appreciated by the audience. It was different with Deer Tick, who didn’t really fit in with their southern rock, so that I just focused on the funny Simpsons Costumes and meanwhile speculated if Brian Fallon and Co. would appear later in fancy dress as well.

This mystery was unravelled at 10pm sharp when five skeletons walked on stage, belting out “Stay Vicious” and lifted their masks off their perfectly painted faces during “The ’59 Sound”. The clear announcement was: It's Halloween. And The Gaslight Anthem are in a great mood. They want to play. Without an encore. But instead for as long as they can and are allowed to. Quite a big promise to be given to the 3.500 fans in the Berlin Columbiahalle. But this Friday night nobody was disappointed! Instead everyone partied the whole time, sang along almost fanatically to every single word and danced and rocked as if there was no tomorrow.

The setlist also played an important part, with the 28 (!) songs which were kind of a best-of of the last ten years and contained of rarities as well as hits such as "Film Noir", "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues", "Selected Poems", "We Came to Dance", "Handwritten” and "Get Hurt. The beautiful acoustic versions of "Great Expectations" and "Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?" added a special touch and showed that The Gaslight Anthem feel as at home with massive stadium rock as with an intimate club atmosphere.

The boys from New Brunswick definitely succeeded in their balancing act from the once lumberjack shirt-punk band to serious rockers, who have what it takes to be the only legitimate successor of Bruce Springsteen - at least on Friday night. After almost two hours, the spectacle was finally over and all agreed that what they had just witnessed, probably was the best show ever of The Gaslight Anthem. It should be Halloween more often ...


And another one: http://festivalisten.de/71424-wars-gaslight-anthem-berlin

mingus wrote:

Cool! All the way from London? I'm going the other way around, Brussels now and then Edinburgh at the end of the month

And preshow as well? Just ordered mine, after weeks of non-stop doubting. I hope it'll be worth it!

I am from London though I was visiting a friend in Bruges anyway so the Gaslight gig in Brussels sort of fitted in quite well. I am also seeing them in London and Birmingham so it will be interesting to compare! Did not do the pre-show this time, still considering whether to do it or not, and if I did it would be the Birmingham show probably.

Found it very different to watching them in London, crowd seemed very quiet from where I was (at the back at the very top of the balcony - the friend I went with would not normally survive being near the front of a Gaslight gig). Loved the slowed down version of Elvis and thought 1000 Years sounded really good live. Brian seemed in good spirits and had some good banter with the audience.

How was the pre-show? Was it worth it? What did they play?

Back from Berlin and it was a great gig loved the new songs and the slowed down Great Ex and Elvis.
Thought the setlist was great with a good mix of songs, and no encore didn't bother me in the slightest.

Off to Munich, Vienna and Zagreb later this week, so hope they can carry on in this form
26/28 songs will do for me!!

Attention people travelling to and from gigs in Germany between Thursday Nov 6th and Nov 10th! German Railways announced a severe strike! Please share with other travellers!

Review Berlin