Recap: The Gaslight Anthem w/ Northcote and The Scandals | Live at Lupo’s Providence, RI – 2/27/15
It’s been many years since I had been to the lovely state of Rhode Island and what better reason to return than seeing my favorite band, The Gaslight Anthem? The venue, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, is a medium sized music hall that I barely remembered from the last time I was there 8 years ago, but is still a nice cheap place for a club show with plenty of bars, a taste for mirrors, leather benches for making out, and a disco ball; signs that maybe, just maybe this space isn’t only used for rock bands. But I was excited to go back all the same. I was a little hesitant to see The Gaslight Anthem as I was hoping I wasn’t paying for the same show that I already attended just this September. However, they did not disappoint with a great show that admittedly I wouldn’t use as an example for a newcomer to get into the band, but a unique and rewarding performance for the Gaslight faithful.
Before the main event could be held we had to take in the undercard. First up was The Scandals, or as they should be known, Gaslight Jr. While the first few couple songs they played sounded like As Eternal Cowboy era Against Me with gruff lead vocals played off strained whoa oh oh oh oh’s from their guitarist/backing vocalist it didn’t take long before they were playing songs that sounded like the headliner. Before one of them they announced that it from their EP that was recorded with TGA’s Brian Fallon. Well, there you go. At least they knew they were playing to the right audience. The 2nd opener, Northcote, didn’t sound like a Gaslight knockoff but they did appear to share a love affair with them for Springsteen. Northcote, hailing from western Canada spent a half hour paying tribute to the Boss as well as ’90s pop rock bands while being really appreciate toward the crowd and other bands because, you know, Canadians. But before they left the stage they played two acoustic songs that would make Chuck Ragan proud especially “Invisible Diamonds”. I advise that you check this out now.
After what seemed like an extra long wait late on a Friday night for a tired old dick bag like myself, the band trickled on stage, greeted the audience with a simple “Hey” and played a sleepy version of “The ’59 Sound”. Lead Singer Brian Fallon admitted that he just woke up and he looked and sounded like he was being truthful. It took the band a while to really get going with incoherent ramblings breaking up their sloppy versions of new and old songs. At one point Fallon spent 10 minutes talking about Canadian Music technology, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Lynard Skynard, and other various topics that the crowd barely understood and his own drummer had even less of a clue about, giving him “Brian, what the hell are you talking about” looks the entire time.
Maybe he was tired. Maybe he was stoned. Maybe they were all just in a weird mood, as songs with seemingly missed notes turned into songs that were intentionally arranged differently for this performance. Acoustic songs were played loud, faster songs were slowed down, and nonsensical banter was replaced by song after song without anyone knowing what was coming next. By the end of the night they were playing a medley of their acoustic track “Red at Night” from their debut album spliced with Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. Yes things were getting weird. But good! Inspired versions of Handwritten songs like “Mulholland Drive”, “Howl”, and “Keepsake” breathed life back into the crowd. On the other side of things, a muted version of “Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?” from the Senor & the Queen EP mostly failed, but the same style of delivery for “Great Expectations” was a definite crowd pleaser.
While the quality and flow improved as the night went on I also loved this show because the band was just playing whatever they felt like. Last September the show was good, but it was structured, the kind of show that you would expect to accompany the release of their new album at the time, Get Hurt. This time around they skipped the latest title track, the first single “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”, and other staples like “American Slang” and “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts”. Instead they played songs that I hadn’t heard live yet like b-sides “Sweet Morphine” and “She Loves You”; the later one of the best sing-a-longs I’ve seen Gaslight pull off live and one of the highlights of the night. To close their main set, they played “Meet Me By the River’s Edge”, a song that when I saw them touring behind The ’59 Sound, was the only song off that album that they didn’t play. What is going on this week? First Llamas, then magically colored dresses, now bands playing whatever songs they want to play at their shows?! There are no rules!
Instead of walking off stage at that point Fallon explained for 10 minutes that after talking with Tegan & Sara, he realized they could play more songs instead of wasting time walking off stage and pretending the show was over only to then complete the encore. The irony of them wasting said time telling that story during their set was not lost on anyone in the crowd, just the band. Still when they actually return to their music they seemed like they had it together and rocked their way through classics like “Wooderson”, “We Came to Dance”, and “Film Noir” appeasing most of the thousands in attendance. Oddly enough for this night, Gaslight closed out the set on a surprisingly predictable note (but always a great closer) “The Backseat”. As we filed out of the building the house lights came up and Sam Cooke’s “Bring it On Home to Me” played us out, I thought to myself: that was actually worth the 2 hour drive here. Also, if there are all these sexy benches in the back of the venue, why was that annoying couple making out in front of us the entire time?
Bake
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[…] I saw Northcote earlier this year opening for The Gaslight Anthem and they were pretty damn good. They have a huge boner for Springsteen and […]