Rock legends The Gaslight Anthem are back in the UK touring their new EP ‘History Books: Short Stories’
Following on from last year’s release of ‘History Books’ an album nearly 10 years in the making, The Gaslight Anthem are back with an EP and a full UK tour to boot!
Tonight the tour stopped off in the historical venue, The Halls, in Wolverhampton. A venue which once saw bands such as Nirvana and The Clash take to their stage has been given a new lease of life following its closure in 2015 and looks fantastic.
The stage was lit up beautifully, the floor filling up nicely and barely an empty seat in the house for the arrival of the UK tour support artist, Emily Wolfe.
Hailing from Austin Texas, this was Emily’s first time playing in the UK and the size of the venue did not faze her. Taking full control of the stage, backed only with a drummer and bass player Emily got the crowd singing and clapping along to her songs from her latest release ‘The Blowback’
I was getting a feeling of Jack White and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs listening to Emily’s vocals and guitar work, but that’s not to shoebox her into a category, Emily’s work deserves its own plaudits, and she certainly made a fan out of me tonight! Go check her out on Spotify! – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0WUpndpcjYMzyPwZ996Sha?si=K3Jm9BTuR4exwd3MecnDNQ
Following a short interval, excitement in The Halls was building for the bands first UK tour since 2022. The band all walked onto the stage, getting a round of applause before lead singer Brian Fallon finally appeared getting the biggest reception off the adoring Wolverhampton crowd.
Opening with ‘Positive Change’ from 2023’s ‘History Books’ then going back to 2012’s ‘Handwritten’ was a great way to give old and new fans a tease before going into one of their most classic tracks, 2010’s ‘American Slang’ which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
It was great to hear the bands live version of their Billie Eilish cover ‘Ocean Eyes’ which is from the latest EP.
Emily Wolfe came back out to join Brian on vocals for new track ‘The Weatherman’ and fan favourite ‘Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts’ which sounded great, and I’d love to hear the pair do more songs together!
Ending the night, quite rightly with the bands most known track, ‘The ’59 Sound’ left fans very happy, especially the one fan who kept asking for the song for most of the gig. Classic songs never grow old, and this is a classic.
Brian and the band continue their sold out UK tour through March before embarking on European dates in June and July before returning to the UK for a show in Nottingham before headlining 2000 Tree’s Festival
June
21 – Scheeßel, Germany – Hurricane Festival †
22 – Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany – Southside Festival T
24 – Zagreb, Croatia – INmusic Festival †
25 – Prague, Czechia – SaSaZu ^
26 – Nuremberg, Germany – Löwensaal ^ (SOLD OUT)
28 – Erfurt, Germany – Bandhaus Festival †
29 – Münster, Germany – Vainstream Rockfest †
30 – Saarbrücken, Germany – Garage ^
July
2 – Vienna, Austria – Arena Wien Open Air ^
4 – Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter †
5-7 – Ewijk, Netherlands – Down The Rabbit Hole Festival †
7 – Ferrara, Italy – Comfort Fest †
10 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City ^
11 – Withington, UK – 2000 Trees Festival †
13 – Madrid, Spain – Mad Cool Festival †
* w/ Special Guest Emily Wolfe
† Festival Appearance
^ w/ Special Guest Spanish Love Songs
Setlist:
- Positive- Change
- Handwri;kjh;ftten
- American Slang
- Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
- We Came To Dance
- Helter Skeleton
- Ocean Eyes
- Underneath The Ground
- High Lonesome
- 1,000 Years
- The Weatherman
- Blue Jeans And White T-Shirts
- Mulholland Drive
- Autumn
- The Patient Ferris Wheel
- Here’s Looking at You, Kid
- Spider Bites
- Michigan, 1975
- We’re Getting A Divorce, You Keep The Diner
- 45
- The ’59 Sound
