The Gaslight Anthem at the Astoria 2 (5th December, 2008)
The Gaslight Anthem are simply incredible. Quite literally: their songs, whilst fairly simple in structure, are so incredibly well executed, one finds it hard to do anything but adore their work. Whilst it may be the most apt description of their style, ‘a combination of hardcore, punk, Springsteen, and the Ramones’ doesn’t even come close to doing them justice.
As recently as a month ago, I was barely even aware of their name, let alone their work. At the time of writing, I’ve been listening to their albums—‘Sink or Swim’ and ‘The ’59 Sound’—almost exclusively for two weeks. Not only are they completely unafraid to draw on, and flaunt, their quite obviously retro influences, they do it so deftly that their music feels almost heroic in the way it stands on the shoulders of giants.
That they can bring this captivating heroism and simplicity so perfectly to their live shows makes seeing them perform an absolute pleasure. Everything they do on stage, thanks to the obvious passion they have for their music, combined with the care they’ve so obviously lavished in its creation, has a resoundingly anthemic quality to it.
From Fallon’s brutal wailing, through the—dare I say it—utterly viable guitar-hero posturings of Alexes Levine and Rosamilia to the perfectly measured drumming of Benny Horowitz, everything about The Gaslight Anthem just works.
See more photos from The Gaslight Anthem’s show at the Astoria 2.
