The Gaslight Anthem Band • Page 9

i don't love keepsake but I do love that riff

 

That and Too Much Blood are the weak links on that album. But the latter encompasses the entire theme of the album so Keepsake is the one I'd cut.

 

I love that bluesy rock vibe in the middle of Handwritten. Keepsake, Too Much Blood, and Biloxi Perish all have little elements of blues rock and it's awesome.

 

I honestly wouldn't touch Handwritten. I could be swayed into adding Blue Dahlia on top of everything, but I love the flow of that record. Biloxi Perish into Desire works really well imo. I know people don't really dig Desire either. You kind of have the upbeat first section, then a mostly bluesy middle, and then slow ending. It's probably my second favorite Gaslight record.

 

Blue Dahlia runs perfectly into Stay Vicious.
Then again, National Anthem runs perfectly into Have Mercy

 

Keepsake and Too Much Blood are great, I think. The riff on Keepsake in particular is fantastic.

 

I don't get the Desire hate either. That and Biloxi Perish have always been two of my favorites off Handwritten.

 

Neither is my favorite from Handwritten but I really dig those songs and like their placement on the record.

 

Saw Brian solo acoustic at the second of two sold-out acoustic shows at House of Independents in Asbury tonight. Great show. He played mostly Painkillers stuff + a Dylan cover + the three Gaslight songs (you kinda have to play Blue Jeans when you're actually on Cookman Ave):

Painkillers
Red Lights
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
Boxer
Nobody Wins
Honey Magnolia
Rosemary
Mojo Hand
Long Drives
National Anthem
Open All Night
Steve McQueen
A Wonderful Life
Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts
Smoke

 

Keepsake is one of my favorite gaslight riffs, and i think the record overall has some of their best guitar work. love the solo on Mulholland Drive especially

 

"Keepsake" is bar none their best song live. It's even better than "The Backseat," which is one of my favorite songs ever.

 

Bold claim right there. I'm not sure if I've even seen them play it, and I've seen them 4 times ! *goes to check set list.fm*

 

Mullholland Drive is my favourite Gaslight song so I totally agree.

 

It's not usually in their setlist, I don't think. I've seen them three or four times and Brian Fallon once, and "Keepsake" only showed up in one of the setlists. That was during the tour they were doing with Rise Against and Hot Water Music, but they had a night off from the main tour in Detroit and did a one-off show on their own. They didn't have an opener so they played like 30 songs and two and a half hours. "Keepsake" was somewhere in the middle of the setlist and it was incredible. Just created an electricity in the crowd that no other song quite reached.

 

This was my favorite concert ever, Gaslight or otherwise. Seeing them in such a small (I think the cap is about 500) and hot venue right before their major label debut was pretty special. The walls were literally sweating, everyone was just drenched in this basement. I remember my brother was adamant all summer about somehow getting tickets for the show, and he came through like two days before. I was pretty ambivalent about going because I had just gotten out of a four year relationship, and all I pretty much wanted to do was sit around and sulk. But I totally credit this show with turning everything around. As cliché or corny as it mind sound, it is insanely therapeutic to be screaming along to songs that you've used as a crutch with people who the songs mean just as much to. That was never more evident that night than during "We're Getting A Divorce, You Keep the Diner".

I don't know what possessed me to share that today, but yeah. I've seen Gaslight over a dozen times, met all the dudes in the band, seen them play in Asbury Park, etc.. There's been some really cool moments, but nothing will ever hold a candle to Diner on that night. I've yet to see them play it again live and I really have no desire to, since I know I'll just compare it to this and there's no way it can compete. The video doesn't really do it justice, but that performance was the perfect distillation of a lot of things for me.

But yeah, I miss this band.

 

Bought a CD copy of Handwritten on a whim today on my way to my mom's. Already have it on vinyl, but man, what a fucking good record!

 

Inspired to embed my own tweet by @Drew Beringer

 

I was at that show, was my first time seeing Gaslight and the first time I saw a band that I was really passionate about live. Went with my brother and a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Was truly one of the most memorable nights of my life.

 

New podcast with Benny. Never heard this show, or this episode. Giving it a listen now, but thought I'd share for those interested.

Edit: This podcast is long, but really fucking good. Lots of good history. Was never a big God Forbid, so I didn't realize this was their guitarist and he is pretty connected to Benny.

 

Benny add anything to the Gaslight reunion conversation? Offer any thoughts on Brian's solo stuff? Any interesting history stories worth summarizing

 

It was mostly history growing up in the Jersey scene . There was also probably the most detailed insight into how Gaslight formed for folks not from the Jersey scene. Benny broke down in detail how that developed. Benny shed some light on the hiatus, although he said he would not talk about some of the details on a public podcast. He also gave some information on where he sees things now. It's 2 hours, but the last chunk is NBA talk, so if you aren't about that topic, it's not as daunting of an episode. I don't want to go into too many specifics because it's really worth a listen. I mostly picked up minor details and when Benny is talking you are like, oh, that's interesting and makes the Gaslight story make more sense.

 

Halloween - What a track.

 

Me and some friends put on these guys during a poker night and listened to Handwritten in full. I forgot how good some of the deeper cuts like Desire and Mae are.

 

Mae is a top 5 gaslight song for me. That into national anthem is perfect. They opened with Mae the one time I've been lucky enough to see them live

 

Top 5 Gaslight... boy oh boy what a hard list that would be...

The Patient Ferris Wheel
Mae
Here's Lookin' at You, Kid
Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts
The Backseat

Already thinking of all the songs I've not included there. Love Brian's solo stuff but I really hope we get more music from the band down the line.