The Gaslight Anthem Surfs Through U Street Music Hall Show; Vows To Return

All photographs by Frank Wilson for REVAMP.com.

WEST END -- The best thing to come out of New Jersey since “The Boss”, The Gaslight Anthem played an impromptu set for about 200 fans on Friday night at U Street Music Hall. Dancing, fist-pumping fans packed tightly shoulder-to-shoulder to see the show, at the tiny club normally reserved for dancing and DJs.

Pressed for time, as one of said DJs was set to take the stage at 10:00 p.m., lead vocalist Brian Fallon announced that the group was not going to leave the stage and return for an encore as is traditionally expected. Instead, they would just play through (spoiler: encores are planned in advance). And what followed was a no frills set that had more power and energy than Darth Sidious’ Force lightning.

The band performed anthem after anthem of stories drenched in detail, with ‘50s-style and a street rock sound. Candles and incents burned as Gaslight played on, smiling between songs like a family sharing an inside joke among mixed company. The crowd shouted along to almost every song, with “Diamond Street Choir” and “American Slang” pushing everyone further into a state of musical intoxication.

Fallon interacted with his fans often, making them laugh at Mark Wahlberg’s expense, disparaging the shooter in the Colorado Batman tragedy, and suggesting that he stole a guitar from Tom Petty.

When the set list began to shrink, the pace nevertheless remained quick, but never hurried. Red, white, and blue lights continued to shine on the band, as Fallon announced that he was an unruly man.

Spurred on by this remark, the crowd began surfing. And during the show’s final song, “59 Sound”, said airborne surfers were tossed around like a high top sneaker raft in a rip tide.

Despite the energy of the evening, The Gaslight Anthem managed to still finish on time and vowed to return to D.C. and play a much larger venue. Their new album, Handwritten, released stateside on July 24th, is filled with the rock/punk fans of the band are used to, but is also cleverly infused with a soulful sound that has become an emerging strength for the foursome.

What’s clear is that they have no interest in becoming a footnote in the music world. They are searching for greatness and each day the band wakes-up running away from failure.

One handwritten lyric and one handwritten chord on handwritten album at a time.