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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The Warfield was hot and steamy on an early August Friday night as The Gaslight Anthem brought a loaded triple bill featuring Joyce Manor and The Dirty Nil to an eager San Francisco crowd. Hitting the city for the first-time since they released their 2023 reunion album History Books, The Gaslight Anthem took the stage to Cyndi Lauper singing “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Despite the fact the band is well-known for lead singer and songwriter Brian Fallon’s often darker emotion lyrical journeys, they seemed to be in an upbeat mood throughout the night.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After coming out of the dark light to start their set with “45” – the first song on 2012’s Handwritten, the band went a bit more obscure with “High Lonesome” off The ’59 Sound and then delivered a machine gun version of “The Patient Ferris Wheel” from that same iconic album. “The Weatherman” – the first of five songs from the new album to make the show’s set list – was delivered with a driving, forceful pace that was enhanced by Fallon’s ability to jump from a quiet, timid whisper to a mighty howl.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure to be with San Francisco today…” Fallon said to the crowd, “We’re The Gaslight Anthem from New Jersey…the rest of the show goes like this…” A hard-driving version of “Bring It On” followed. He and the rest of the band brought enormous power to their impressive and deep catalog when delivering the songs live. Fallon was like a boxer who surgically flicks a series of quiet, delicate jabs before delivering a series of mighty haymakers. Bassist Alex Levine matched Fallon’s energy with both his bass lines and background vocals as drummer Benny Horowitz kept the band pacing well balanced between moments of anticipation and release. Lead guitarist Alex Rosamilia maintained a darker presence with a baseball hat pulled down and hoodie pulled over his head as he stayed anchored at stage right outside of the spotlight that seemed to only hit the center stage.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The title track off the new album History Books followed with Fallon filling the vocal spots that are occupied by his hero and fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen. Horowitz’ drumming on this song shone through as he brought the quiet moments to a close with a bombastic cymbal attack. “Wooderson” from the band’s debut album led into a stormy, heart-aching version of “Get Hurt” featuring the Jerseyite’s yearning lyrics that resonated deeply with the crowd and elicited an audience roar:
Think I’m gonna’ move to California
Mama can you say a prayer for Me?
I heard they don’t get so low done.
I heard they never bleed.
Not like we bleed.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
This was my third time seeing Fallon live and he once again had a charming, smiling stage presence full of wit and irony that belies much of his subject matter. “Hey California! We love it. Beautiful, relaxed people. You’ve had weed since the ‘90s. How’d they do that? You always look better than everyone else. You know that, right? This state looks great,” Fallon told the crowd. “That should be your state motto: ‘This state looks great.’ Anyway, this song is about a dead guy…” And with that intro the band started up with 2008’s “Miles Davis and the Cool.”
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Since their reunion began in 2022, the band has also included additional guitarist Ian Perkins – Fallon’s former guitar tech who toured with Fallon in his solo tours, as well as joining him in The Horrible Crowes. Perkins’ guitar provides added depth to the live sound and he also served as a frequent partner for Fallon during Friday’s show – whether they were dueling on riffs or just exchanging wide smiles on the back line. They did both during a hot version of “Little Fires” off the new album.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A lightning-fast version of “Mulholland Drive” transformed into an extremely quiet finish featuring isolated piano, bluesy guitar and Fallon at a whisper as the crowd clapped along before a full band finish. The band launched immediately into a driving version of “Keepsake” that brought the loudest reaction from the audience up that point. The new album’s “Autumn” which could probably be considered on the “whimsical” side of Fallon’s songwriting was sent out with an electrifying finish with Rosamilia’s tube screamer fully engaged on lead guitar and Fallon at full howl.
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Handwritten” rode the band’s full energy and dramatic strobe lights to one of the highest points of the concert. The Gaslight Anthem had arrived in San Francisco during “The Days Between” (August 1 was Jerry Garcia’s birthday and he passed on August 9) and lead singer Fallon sporting his longest hair of recent times and clad in a red flannel shirt over black t-shirt shared that he had recently entered the Deadhead realm. “I’m new to all this Grateful Dead business. All my friends from bands are sending me their playlists and concerts. So, today we’re playing here, so I wake up to a whole bunch of playlists I have to listen to. It’s new, it’s nice and I do like it. And I love the sense of community that you all have with bands out here – even now with the punk scene and the people that we know from here. It’s really cool to see that you guys have been doing that for so long.”
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| The Gaslight Anthem @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
With that, he brought the band into a super slow, dripping version of “Michigan, 1975” with Horowitz demonstrating a super light touch with understated, but finely crafted fills behind the reverb-heavy guitars. The Gaslight Anthem does not do encores, so they powered through the last three hits to send the audience home energized by “Mae,” “Great Expectations” and an extremely up-tempo “The ’59 Sound” supplemented by flashing spots, strobes and a deep red stage lighting. No bows or encores followed, just a few waves, claps, thumbs up and feedback as they exited the stage.
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| Joyce Manor @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The Gaslight Anthem has always brought the audience strong opening acts and this night was no exception. California’s Joyce Manor held down the mid-slot – blasting through songs at a breakneck pace. Lead singer Barry Johnson was full of energy and didn’t let their limited amount of time hold him back. “We have ten minutes and five more songs. Let’s go!” he told the band
and crowd. They almost got there piling four songs into the timeframe. Highlights of their set – included “The Jerk”, “Dance with Me” and a terrific “Five Beer Plan.” Their set was engaging and energetic.
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| Joyce Manor @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Very nice to be here with Joyce Manor – local heroes,” Brian Fallon later told the crowd. “And also very, very nice to be here with The Dirty Nil from Canada. They’ve never been to America so you’ve got to be very nice to them. If you see them hanging around – they don’t speak English – so you have to speak really slow French to them. They are going to try to tell you they speak English, but they don’t. So, speak French to them any time you see them on the planet.”
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| The Dirty Nil @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Hamilton, Ontario’s The Dirty Nil came down from Canada provided as impressive and energetic an opening set as I have seen in some time. From the first notes of “That What Heaven Feels Like,” to the close of “Doom Boy,” they were constantly in motion – posing and connecting with the crowd. The trio – lead singer and guitarist Luke Bentham, drummer Kyle Fisher and bassist Sam Tomlinson – blended punk, alternative and hard rock to form a strong, but fun sound that was reminiscent of Blink 182 meets Fall Out Boy.
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| The Dirty Nil @ the Warfield (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Bentham is incredibly impressive as a front-man with an equal mix of swagger and humility. Tomlinson gives Van Halen’s Michael Anthony a challenge for most active bassist and provided additional vocals as Fisher laid down strong drum backing throughout the set. The band has been together for an extended period and released their latest album Free Rein to Passions in 2023. Their live performance is simply not to be missed.
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