CONCERT REPORT: Brian Fallon at The Space

 

Brian Fallon at the Space in Westbury, Oct 2018

Following the string of dates his band The Gaslight Anthem played over the course of 2018 might seem like a tall order for singer Brian Fallon. But since their hiatus began in 2015, he has been quite successful developing his own following, including some people who weren’t familiar with his band at all. So any worry of alienating Gaslight fans surely quickly disappeared, as he’s been able to stay on the public’s radar through two albums now.

CONCERT REPORT: The Gaslight Anthem 2018 Reunion

The Gaslight Anthem at the Stone Pony, August 2018

2018 was a big year for fans of the Gaslight Anthem. After playing their last show as a band in 2015 and going their separate musical ways, the faithful held on to the hope they might get to see their favorites together once again some day, or at all in the case of those who discovered them after via Brian Fallon’s subsequent solo career officially began in 2016. Well, they were granted their wish when the band announced tour dates would actually happen to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album “The ’59 Sound”, which catapulted them into the public eye back in 2008.

Happy New Year!

It's been a quiet couple of months, but I promise that will change! Lack of concerts along with getting caught up in Holiday craziness has contributed to that. So here's a quick catch-up!

Shortly after Halloween, I checked out Faster Pussycat's gig at Saint Vitus. As usual, they put on a great show. I grew up with a different lineup, but honestly, singer Taime Downe has done a good job of putting together a fun crew every time I've seen them in the past decade. They opened with "Where There's A Whip There's A Way", which is my favorite FP tune, so I was psyched about that! I was not psyched that someone there passed on their head cold to me though! I ended up missing The Falcon's Northeast shows because of that. 2016 has not been kind to me in that I counted 6 shows I missed due to unexpected reasons (traffic and illness basically), as opposed pretty much never having missed a show due to either. Yeesh.

I checked out Night 1 and Night 2 of Brian Fallon's annual holiday shows at Crossroads in Garwood, NJ just before Christmas. Tim Barry opened on Night 1 with Brian McGee opening on Night 2. It was great to see both openers, as I haven't seen them in awhile! Tim has such a unique personality and live show. He's a punk out of Richmond, VA, previously known as the frontman for Avail, and is really one of the most down-to-Earth people you'll ever come across. You can check out his website here. Brian is well known for his work with Plow United as well as being part of Brian Fallon's side project Molly and The Zombies. He made the trip up just for this show and it was much appreciated. Hopefully we'll see more of him sooner rather than later. Brian McGee's site can be found here. McGee is donating proceeds from two of his songs to the Save The Children Foundation. Find out more about that here.

Brian Fallon's set was a bit of a different experience than usual. He came out solo, which I personally haven't seen happen since 2010. The setlist each night was mostly made up of tunes off of Painkillers, with a couple of Gaslight surprises thrown in. "Navesink Banks", "National Anthem", "Stray Paper" and "Boxer" made the cut. "Nobody Wins", "Mojo Hand", "A Wonderful Life", "Smoke", "Steve McQueen" and "Honey Magnolia" also made appearances. The famous Andy Diamond played a big part of Night 1's set, as the man himself was sitting at stageside during Brian's set. Brian often turned to him for side conversation relating to whatever Brian was discussing, which was entertaining. Brian would also indulge audience members' questions or comments, sometimes with a snappy response, which was the case on Night 2, when a man announced to the room that his wife was obsessed with Brian. Brian replied with "Maybe you should treat her better!" D'oh!

Otherwise, I went to the great Sebastian Bach's Brooklyn appearance on his book tour promoting "18 and Life on Skid Row." He shared some funny stories and held a fan Q&A in the performance area of Saint Vitus where the signing was held. Afterwards, he signed everyone's books and posed for photos. Of course his lovely new Bride, Suzanne, was there right by his side.

I immediately started reading the book the moment it was in my hands at the signing. I am getting closer to the end, but let me say that early on into the book, even though I'm not completely done reading it, it's definitely one of my favorites. There are a lot of stories regarding incidents I've always wanted to know more about, along with stories that never made it to Metal Edge, RIP, Circus, etc. during his time with Skid Row. It's definitely a case of "You think you know, but you have no idea." I won't spoil anything, but I do want to say that even as a member of the Stern Nation, where I hear pretty much every debaucherous thing humans are capable of, there were still moments in Sebastian's life that made me blush!

Anyway, I hope everyone has had a great holiday season!