Wings For Wheels

OK, I’ve been so busy with my new project that I didn’t get the opportunity to write reviews of the two shows I saw last weekend. But I’ve got a bit of a sinus headache right now, and it’s preventing me from concentrating on the research, so I figured I might as well get this out.

The first act was Good Old War, a trio from Philadelphia. They had some decent songs and nice harmonies. All three of their voices were fairly high, so it was kind of like Fleet Foxes meet The Cavedogs, if you can imagine such a thing (am I the only person who even remembers The Cavedogs, who released the power poptastic Joyrides For Shut-Ins in 1990? Apparently not. Whew.)

Although they were likeable and I’m rooting for them, unfortunately they had the stage presence of your average Fell’s Point cover band, which wasn’t helped by their insistence on facial hair. I was surprised to find out they were from Philly because I get the feeling they would get their ass kicked in repeatedly.

Next up were The Heartless Bastards, who have been getting a lot of publicity lately. It’s easy to see why. They’re a tight band that put on a really good show. Erika Wennerstromon is a charismatic frontwoman with a big, deep voice, and the other guitarist made me remember how cool Fender Jazzmasters are when you’re slashing chords through ‘em.

But they don’t do anything for me because I don’t think their songs are that good. At times they recalled Jefferson Airplane, but without the harmonies or the drugs. Other times they sounded like Concrete Blonde without the Goth fixation. Throw in a some mid-90s PJ Harvey chick-singer-deconstructs-the-blues and that’s really all there is. But they were still as polished an indie band as I’ve seen live in the past five or six years, so I do recommend them.

Finally The Gaslight Anthem came on. Not surprisingly, they opened with Great Expectations, the opening cut from The ‘59 Sound. They played a blistering hour-long set comprised of all-but two songs from that album, five or six from their debut, Sink Or Swim (including Wooderson, We Came To Dance, and Boomboxes And Dictionaries), and Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts from their Senor And The Queen EP. They closed out the night with I’da Called You Woody, Joe, prefixed by a verse and chorus of Stand By Me, which worked better than I thought it would.

Brian Fallon’s banter was good. He talked about how much he loves Chicago (he was wearing a Chicago Music Exchange t-shirt, which is an amazing guitar store – nothing like walking in and getting hit by a wall of Rickenbackers). Apparently he’s a Bears fan for some reason, and complained about getting harassed by “guys in blue or green” in New Jersey. Brian, you’re a great songwriter and all, but cry me a river on that one, buddy.

Unfortunately, one of the two songs they didn’t play from The ‘59 Sound was Meet Me By The River’s Edge, my favorite song from that album. I can’t recall the last time I went to a concert and didn’t hear my favorite song off the new record. I never complain about setlists. It’s a band’s job to do the songs they feel they can perform best on that night, and if it happens to not match my mood, that’s fine, but this did feel almost anti-climactic. Then again, the kids up front were clearly more thrilled to hear Old White Lincoln than Casanova, Baby, which was one of the highlights for me.

By the end of the show, Fallon looked spent. For the last few songs, he was bringing down some of the melodies to lower, but harmonically compatible, notes. I figured that was just the natural exhaustion of being on the road. But the next morning I found out that the band canceled its show that night in Minneapolis, which Tim and Michele were going to, due to a medical emergency. I followed up on it just before writing this and found out that Fallon had an abscessed tooth. So it’s possible that singing a song as intense as River’s Edge was too much for him.