The Gaslight Anthem - History Books (October 27th 2023) Album • Page 64

Damn that's sad. They were fine last year when I saw them. Brian's banter is largely overblown by entitled fans but this doesn't sound good.

 

it sucks but artists are people and allowed to have off nights. we really don't have to go down the route of baseless speculation about their life lol. come on.

 

What is being baselessly speculated on

 

Sounds like it was an off night. Could be a coincidence but it was also the anniversary of a friends death. Also, these crossroads shows should not be judged through a normal prism. They’re very small hometown shows where the overwhelming majority of the crowd are friends of his or regulars he’s known forever.

 

saying that the band was in a good place at the release of the album, implying that he isn't in a good place because he was drunk (?) and saying "this doesn't sound good" come off as kind of weird lol

 

Do you know what baseless means

 

lmao i would say speculating on whether a guy's life is going well or not because he was drunk while performing in front of friends one night is the definition of baseless, yes. do you?

have a good one, man. consider being normal for once, maybe.

 

4 songs in an hour? Holy hell. That’s pretty bad.

 

I mean the dude loves to gab and it’s holiday acoustic shows. Seems more of just a laid back supposed to be fun atmosphere. If it becomes a trend then yeah I get it.

 

Jesus…

You don't need to be blindly defending him like someone is hating on one of your faves on Twitter, because 1) I'm obviously a huge fan as well, what else would I have been doing at a Crossroads show 4 hours before he went on and 2) nobody is judging Brian, slagging him off, saying he isn't forgiven etc., I'm just saying the show was really bad, he was really drunk, and I had an unpleasant time.

I'm fully aware of what his shows are like, I've been to a ton and have been going to them since 2008. As a grown adult and an avid concertgoer, I'm well aware of what I'm owed when going to a show (being kept safe and being treated with the bare minimum amount of respect) and what I'm not (anything else). I also think there's plenty of reason to worry about someone who has had addiction issues in the past becoming very intoxicated, even if you don't know them personally. Nothing wrong with saying “that seems bad, I hope they're ok,” and in fact I think that's a pretty normal reaction from a person with human feelings.

What I (someone who was there) am telling you (someone who was not) is that he wasn't just drunk, he was “unable to play a show” drunk and it was incredibly unpleasant to watch. A woman behind me was crying she was so frustrated. There were at least two Trea Turner-style encouraging applause breaks. A sold-out, home turf show in a 200 cap place was half empty when he still had like 7 songs left.

Whether you believe it or not and whether it was excusable or not, it was probably the least professional and least enjoyable show I've ever been to. If everything's going great for him and he's in a great place and he just got so incredibly blitzed and decided to bomb a show, then I feel disrespected. If not, then I feel worried and empathetic. Nothing baseless in that, man, lol lmao bro

 

i wasn't responding to you lol. i was responding to the people who said the exact things that i was quoting. why are you being so weird.

 

Because those people are correct? And because it's totally "normal" and based in reality to say that someone who has had addiction issues in the past might not be doing great if they're getting too drunk to function?

 

This is now the second time you’ve said he’s had addiction issues. Where is that coming from?

 

Shame on you for showing concern

 

come on what is this

 

the guy getting mad at people saying baseless speculation is happening insinuating brian has "relapsed" or is in some kind of crisis with absolutely no evidence other than him maybe being a little too drunk.

this website!!!!!!!

 

no sarcasm, im sorry the show you probably shelled out more than a few bucks for seemingly stunk. But we dont need to character assasinate a man for being a bit too drunk on stage.

 

i’ve never seen brian, who i’ve had several conversations with in the past, say that he flat out doesn’t drink, let alone anything about being in recovery. sure, maybe he doesn’t drink often and had a few too many but come the fuck on.

 

It’s a bummer the show was really bad and it’s totally fine to say that.

But just cause someone had a bad drunken night doesn’t automatically mean we can just assume or comment there is a mental health concern, drinking issue, or artist is in a bad place … especially when it was admittedly an emotional night on the anniversary of a close one’s death

 

100%. going to a bad show stinks. it can be left at that lol.

 

You're all responding to like three totally average "this doesn't sound good" and "hope nothings wrong" comments like they're character assassination attempts. That's nuts. The show sucked and it was left at that until some unnecessary and smug moral posturing un-left it.

 

All I'm asking is where is “past addiction issues” coming from.

 

alright man, have a good saturday night lol. keep it moving.

 

He has talked multiple times about quitting smoking. He's got full-on songs about it.