The Gaslight Anthem @ Kool Haus

October 15th, 2009

the-gaslight-anthem-kool-haus

The last time The Gaslight Anthem played Toronto, they had a decent size fan base but seeing how crowded the Kool Haus was on Tuesday night it’s safe to say these guys are getting bigger as the months pass.

As the lights dimmed and oddly enough Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun playing in the background, the New Jersey quartet emerged on stage to a thunderous crowd.

With no intro needed, the guys picked up their instruments, looked at each other and just started rocking out. Opening the set with High Lonesome followed by Casanova, Baby! it was clear that Tuesday night was going to be a good night for a rock ‘n roll show.

Every song they played was followed with the crowd singing along and it was most noticeable during crowd favourites The 59′ Sound, Old White Lincoln, Here’s Looking at You, Kid, and Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts. No matter what song The Gaslight Anthem played, the crowd was really into it from start to finish with non stop jumping around, pumping their fists in the air and generally having a great time. Their set included tracks from both of their full length albums, The ’59 Sound & Sink or Swim and their EP Senor and the Queen.

Once the guys were done their set, they came back for a five song encore which really surprised me knowing that most encores usually consist of only three songs. They started their encore with Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts which got a loud response from the crowd followed by 1930, We Came To Dance, Meet Me By The River’s Edge and closing the show with Navesink Banks.

Following a performance like that it’s clear that these guys have what it takes to be a huge arena band and it’s only a matter of time before they have that one song that propels them into giant rock star status.

Setlist (not in order):
Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?
I’da Called You Woody, Joe
Angry Johnny and the Radio
Great Expectations
The ’59 Sound
Old White Lincoln
High Lonesome
Film Noir
Miles Davis & The Cool
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Casanova, Baby!
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
The Backseat
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
1930
We Came To Dance
Meet Me by the River’s Edge
The Navesink Banks