127 Bands, 5 Stages, 3 Days and 1 Mean Sunburn.
"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival - April 17-19th, 2009 or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Find 30 Reasons To Love a Weekend in the Desert."
- By Scott Butterworth
Day #25 - Artist #25 - The Gaslight Anthem:
I think what I love about The Gaslight Anthem is that they take me back to summer days spent with my friends on Pier 30/32 on the beautiful San Francisco Bay watching our favorite punk rock bands at the annual Warped Tour. But I hate to call them a "Warped Tour" band; that label just feels so limiting. The same issue was brought up in Pitchfork.com's review of their second album, The '59 Sound, that slapped the dreaded "Sophomore Slump" across the band's face with its release in August 2008. Pitchfork's notoriously cynical reviewers expressed the essence of the band in the exact way I felt, but didn't know how to describe: "The Gaslight Anthem might work the Warped Tour mall-punk circuit, but they're not of it. Instead, they belong to an older breed of punk band, one we don't see too much anymore: Social Distortion, Alkaline Trio, fellow Jersey knuckleheads Bouncing Souls. These bands might be emotional, but they're about a million miles removed from
emo, especially in the way that term gets tossed around now."
They are so much more than that. They carry the soul of Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements, but don't forget to pack the youth and punk rock intensity of Warped Tour OG's like Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, and Against Me.
I hesitate to put up video of live performances because more often than not, the sound quality is horrible or the "magic" of a live performance gets lost in video translation. With their recent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, neither was the case. It came across as though they have a special power to transcend both.
"The '59 Sound" from the album The '59 Sound (2008):
"Old White Lincoln" from the album The '59 Sound (2008):
(To see all the Coachella posts in this series, click here. And thank you to those that commented on previous posts. Please feel free to comment on what you like, don't like, and leave a suggested donation of $10.)
"Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival - April 17-19th, 2009 or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Find 30 Reasons To Love a Weekend in the Desert."
- By Scott Butterworth
Day #25 - Artist #25 - The Gaslight Anthem:
I think what I love about The Gaslight Anthem is that they take me back to summer days spent with my friends on Pier 30/32 on the beautiful San Francisco Bay watching our favorite punk rock bands at the annual Warped Tour. But I hate to call them a "Warped Tour" band; that label just feels so limiting. The same issue was brought up in Pitchfork.com's review of their second album, The '59 Sound, that slapped the dreaded "Sophomore Slump" across the band's face with its release in August 2008. Pitchfork's notoriously cynical reviewers expressed the essence of the band in the exact way I felt, but didn't know how to describe: "The Gaslight Anthem might work the Warped Tour mall-punk circuit, but they're not of it. Instead, they belong to an older breed of punk band, one we don't see too much anymore: Social Distortion, Alkaline Trio, fellow Jersey knuckleheads Bouncing Souls. These bands might be emotional, but they're about a million miles removed from
emo, especially in the way that term gets tossed around now."They are so much more than that. They carry the soul of Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements, but don't forget to pack the youth and punk rock intensity of Warped Tour OG's like Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, and Against Me.
I hesitate to put up video of live performances because more often than not, the sound quality is horrible or the "magic" of a live performance gets lost in video translation. With their recent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, neither was the case. It came across as though they have a special power to transcend both.
"The '59 Sound" from the album The '59 Sound (2008):
"Old White Lincoln" from the album The '59 Sound (2008):
(To see all the Coachella posts in this series, click here. And thank you to those that commented on previous posts. Please feel free to comment on what you like, don't like, and leave a suggested donation of $10.)
Relevant Tags
Against Me (1), Rise Against (1), Coachella 2009 (26), The Gaslight Anthem (1), The '59 Sound (1), Bruce Springsteen (11), The Replacements (2), Warped Tour (1), The Bouncing Souls (1)Recent Posts From Amoebite
Comments
If you have the chance check them out live, it is really worth it!
The Gaslight Anthem is an amazing band. I saw them about a year ago at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. They put on an amazing show. Their live energy is contagious and just like The Boss everyone can relate to their lyrics in one way or another. Bands like The Gaslight Anthem are few and far in-between.