The Gaslight Anthem Say Goodbye In New Jersey

Written by: Geoff Tischman

The Gaslight Anthem’s reunion celebration of the tenth anniversary of their landmark The 59 Sound album came to an end the other night (8/19) in Asbury Park, New Jersey,

The New Brunswick outfit, who called it a day in 2015, have had a triumphant run celebrating the milestone and they closed the book on this particular chapter with a three-night run at the Stone Pony Summer Stage.

The band’s lineup–singer Brian Fallon, guitarist Alex Rosamilia, bassist Alex Levine and drummer Benny Horowitz–were tight and powerful and from the beginning of the show to the end, they locked in with each other with the easy familiarity that only old bandmates can manage.

Horowitz is one of the greatest drummers in rock and roll and he held down the band’s sound with muscle and preternatural percussive intuition.

But it’s Fallon’s songbook that stole the show. And the band’s 25-song set demonstrated how vast and deeply satisfying that songbook is.

Strategically, the set list started with four numbers taken from the band’s discography and then they launched into The ’59 Sound, starting with the flawless “Great Expectations.”

They played the record from start to finish (with one omission) and it was fabulous. Fallon even built on the Tom Petty reference in “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” by playing a bit of “Free Fallin'” in the intro.

The band closed with another series of songs from their discography and they ended the evening with a blistering version of “The ’59 Sound.”

It was ragged rock and roll glory.

And it was perfect.

Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan opened the show.

The Gaslight Anthem Set List: