Live Review: The Gaslight Anthem - London, KOKO

Before I start I should probably mention that I’m a MASSIVE Gaslight Anthem fan, so the prospect of seeing them at one of London’s relatively smaller venues left me more excited than a 16 year old girl about to be spit-roasted by One Direction – with Harry going first. Thankfully my excitement was well-justified as The Gaslight Anthem fired through a memorable set, ranked by the band themselves as one of their favourite shows ever.

With their debut major label release Handwritten due out towards the end of July, tonight was a perfect way so bid farewell to some older songs, showcasing exactly why the New Jersey punk rockers broke out of the basement scene and gained such widespread acclaim and adoration. Kicking off with Great Expectations, the album opener from 2008’s classic 59 Sound LP, the group ensure that the bar is set high, so high in fact that only a band with as strong a catalogue as TGA would be able to maintain it. The 25 song set included tracks from all three Gaslight albums, Sink or Swim, 59 Sound and American Slang, as well as Senor and the Queen, 2008’s four track EP.

A seamlessly paced set highlights Gaslight’s ability to mix hard rocking anthems with slower melodies as song pairings Drive - Blue Jeans and White T-shirts and American Slang – Here’s Looking at you, Kid perfectly illustrate. Of course it wouldn’t be as Gaslight Anthem show without a few covers and surprises thrown in, tonight’s offerings see an impassioned cover of House of the Rising Sun as well as a superb run through of Brand New’s Jesus Christ, situated during a rousing Angry Johnny and the Radio. In addition the inclusion of I’da Called You Woody Joe, homage to Camden Town and its patron Saint Joe Strummer is a fiercely relevant tribute to tonight’s setting.

With Handwritten looming on the horizon, (TGA’s first release since signing to Mercury Records) much speculation questioned whether the show heralded a different Gaslight Anthem, and if so would they play any new material. Well, if tonight proved anything it’s that the band themselves have not altered – singer Brian Fallon emphasizing this point himself, adding ‘‘everything’s changed, but the band haven’t changed’’ before launching into a stirring performance of breakthrough single The 59 Sound. Fans are treated to two tracks from the new record, though neither are world premieres. Biloxi Parish is a blues infused stomp of a track, previewed and debuted last year which rises up to a characteristically massive chorus that typifies the band. 45, the lead single from Handwritten, is even bigger, an immediate fans favourite that provides one of many highlights, with each ‘Hey, turn the record over’ greeted by a flurry of fists.

The unofficial inclusion of Fallon’s Horrible Crowes collaborator and former Gaslight guitar tech Ian Perkins has added a new direction to both the band’s sound and stage performance. Although an unassuming figure himself, Perkins’ guitar duties not only give the band an even bigger live sound, but it also allows Brian Fallon to further assert himself as a frontman. Putting down the guitar for around five songs allows him to clap, stomp and scream his way around stage, culminating in a brave stage dive from one of Koko’s balcony’s. Acting almost as a metaphor for the direction Fallon wants to take his band, this Eddie Vedder tribute is a representation of not only the influences on the new album, but also how the band would like to model their impending success.  Fallon is clearly ready for The Gaslight Anthem to be huge, arena huge and if their already brilliant back catalogue wasn’t enough to seal the deal, Handwritten will be. Anyone still unconvinced only need listen to tonight’s triumphant closer of Baba O’Reilly – one of the biggest ever rock songs, sounding bigger than ever before.

I’ll see you on the flipside.