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Toronto – March 20, 2009

What do you get when you add The Gaslight Anthem, The Opera House, and a highly energetic crowd? A great show! And that’s exactly what The Gaslight Anthem delivered at the sold out Opera House on Friday night.

From the start of “Great Expectations” to the end of “Say I Won’t”, the guys from New Brunswick, New Jersey did not stop rocking out. They pumped out song after song that really got the crowd going. As the show went on the more I understood why they are considered to be in the Punk genre. At a first listen they don’t seem to fit, but after seeing them perform live I know now why. Their energy and attitude through out the whole performance did not change, and if it did it would only get better.

At the center of the crowd in front of the stage were a group of fans that were moshing and crowd surfing. This is something that I did not expect but highly enjoyed as it made the show better. At one point during the show a girl decided to crowd surf and while the band was getting ready to start their next song frontman Brain Fallon told the crowd “be careful with her”. This was one of the things that occurred that helped me understand why they are considered Punk.

They played songs from all of their releases which include their debut album Skin or Swim, their EP Senor and the Queen, and their latest album The ‘59 Sound. Some of the songs that stood out for me were “Great Expectations”, “Senor and the Queen”, “Old White Lincoln”, and “I’da Called You Woody, Joe”.

At the end of their set the guys stepped off stage to loud cheers and chants of ‘Gaslight! Gaslight!’ until they re-emerged from the side of the stage. During their encore they teased us with a bit of the classic hit “Stand By Me” before playing “I’da Called You Woody, Joe”. They also treated us to an amazing five song encore to which frontman Brian Fallon said that they really appreciated that everyone came out to see them when there are tone of other bands we could have seen.

This was one of the better shows that I’ve seen at the Opera House and cannot wait until these guys return to Toronto. When they do, be sure to attend as you won’t be disappointed.

Setlist:
Great Expectations
High Lonesome
We Came To Dance
Old White Lincoln
Wooderson
Meet Me By The River’s Edge
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
The ‘59 Sound
Senor and the Queen
Miles Davis & the Cool
Film Noir
Boomboxes and Dictionaries
Casanova, Baby!
Here’s Looking At You, Kid
The Patient Ferris Wheel
The Backseat

Encore:
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
Angry Johnny And The Radio
I’da Called You Woody, Joe
1930
Say I Wont

Links:
Official: www.gaslightanthem.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem

Tags: concert review, concerts, gaslight anthem, opera house, reviews

Posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm by Alberto and is filed under Concerts & Events.

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