• Conversations
  • Concert Review
  • New Music Showcase
  • Blues Fix
  • Inside the Cover
  • My Favorite
  • About
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
MisplacedStraws
Subscribe
  • Conversations
  • Concert Review
  • New Music Showcase
  • Blues Fix
  • Inside the Cover
  • My Favorite
  • About
MisplacedStraws
Home » The Gaslight Anthem, Oakdale Theater, Wallingford, CT 5/21/23
Concert Review

The Gaslight Anthem, Oakdale Theater, Wallingford, CT 5/21/23

By Jeff GaudiosiMay 23, 2023No Comments4 Mins Read
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

The Gaslight Anthem released their debut record in 2007. Over the next 7 years Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine, and Benny Horowitz established themselves as one of America’s great rock bands. After announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2015, the band performed a short string of shows in 2018. They are now back as a full-time band, along with touring guitarist Ian Perkins and keyboardist Bryan Haring, and brought their triumphant return tour to Wallingford, CT.

The night began with a set by Texas-based guitarist Emily Wolfe. Wolfe led her trio through a fuzz-drenched set that had the general admission audience dancing along with her.

Next up was the New York rock band Oso Oso, the brainchild of guitarist and singer Jade Lilitri.

Around 9:30, it was time for the long-awaited Connecticut return of The Gaslight Anthem. I last saw the band in Providence, RI in early 2015, after they announced they would be going on hiatus at the end of the tour. At that point, it felt like you were watching a band starting to fall apart. As they took the stage now to the Handwritten lead-off track “45”, it was clear that the hunger and drive that propelled this band was back, and the packed audience fed off of it immediately.

While the band did perform their recent single “Positive Charge”, there was no other new material to play. This tour is about celebrating the legacy of the band and reconnecting with a loyal fanbase that waited patiently for them to find their way back to each other. Each member was in top form with frontman Fallon leading the charge and keeping the mood light with various stories throughout the night.

On what is essentially a Greatest Hits tour, the band has been slightly changing the set each night. While it is somewhat impossible to get a bad Gaslight Anthem set, this night was a particularly strong one. A slightly longer than normal set with the addition of “Get Hurt”, the band touched on each record, concentrating mainly on their two biggest successes, 2008’s The ’59 Sound and 2012’s Handwritten. It was a perfectly paced set that saw transitions from the more mellow, like “Mullholand Drive” to the driving “We Came to Dance”, which everyone in the crowd did.

While it’s easy to peg Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty as huge influences on the band, Fallon took some time early in the set to point out that they are children of the 90s and grew up on the music of that decade. To emphasize the point, the band, led by touring keyboardist Bryan Haring and Fallon, performed a sublime version of the Mother Love Bone ballad “Chloe Dancer” followed by Alice In Chains’ all-out rocker (and tribute to late Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood) “Would?”. Normally, I would rather see a band play their own songs. However, if you are going to play covers, pick amazing songs and play the hell out of them, and that is exactly what the band did.

The night came to a feverish crescendo with a run of “Howl”, “American Slang”, and “Great Expectations” that had the crowd singing, dancing, and crowd surfing. As the last notes of “Great Expectations” hung in the air, Fallon brought back Emily Wolfe and quieted things down with “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts” and a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Time” before kicking into another gear with “The ’59 Sound”. The set ended as triumphantly as it started with “The Backseat”.

The songs of The Gaslight Anthem and Brian Fallon, much like heroes Springsteen and Petty, create a personal atmosphere where you as a listener find yourself in the words and lose yourself in the music. It’s not a room full of strangers to see a band, it’s brothers and sisters there to all share an experience only they know and can appreciate. Everyone in that room could give you their life story through a Gaslight Anthem playlist. On this night, we found ourselves, found each other, and welcomed back friends that were sorely missed.

Share. Facebook Twitter Tumblr Email
Jeff Gaudiosi

Related Posts

Dream Theater, Toyota Oakdale Theater, Wallingford, CT 3/14/25

March 15, 2025

Joe Bonamassa, Premier Theater at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, CT, 3/1/25

March 2, 2025

Howard Jones/ABC, College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT 2/26/25

February 27, 2025

Bret Michaels, Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT, 2/7/25

February 8, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Archive
  • May 2025 (7)
  • April 2025 (10)
  • March 2025 (7)
  • February 2025 (9)
  • January 2025 (8)
  • December 2024 (8)
  • November 2024 (6)
  • October 2024 (7)
  • September 2024 (6)
  • August 2024 (10)
  • July 2024 (10)
  • June 2024 (7)
  • May 2024 (10)
  • April 2024 (10)
  • March 2024 (12)
  • February 2024 (9)
  • January 2024 (13)
  • December 2023 (9)
  • November 2023 (10)
  • October 2023 (8)
  • September 2023 (18)
  • August 2023 (15)
  • July 2023 (14)
  • June 2023 (7)
  • May 2023 (17)
  • April 2023 (15)
  • March 2023 (17)
  • February 2023 (19)
  • January 2023 (13)
  • December 2022 (11)
  • November 2022 (13)
  • October 2022 (19)
  • September 2022 (19)
  • August 2022 (19)
  • July 2022 (22)
  • June 2022 (22)
  • May 2022 (27)
  • April 2022 (49)
  • March 2022 (11)
  • February 2022 (9)
  • January 2022 (7)
  • December 2021 (5)
  • November 2021 (8)
  • October 2021 (10)
  • September 2021 (7)
  • August 2021 (7)
  • July 2021 (7)
  • June 2021 (7)
  • May 2021 (5)
  • April 2021 (6)
  • March 2021 (8)
  • February 2021 (7)
  • January 2021 (6)
  • December 2020 (8)
  • November 2020 (9)
  • October 2020 (6)
  • September 2020 (4)
  • August 2020 (5)
  • July 2020 (6)
  • June 2020 (5)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (4)
  • March 2020 (5)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (3)
  • December 2019 (6)
  • November 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (9)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (6)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (4)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (4)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (4)
  • August 2018 (4)
  • July 2018 (8)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (6)
  • April 2018 (3)

Subscribe to Misplaced Straws

* indicates required

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Vimeo YouTube
© 2025 Misplaced Straws.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.