The Gaslight Anthem played Niagra Falls – 9/30
For part two of an autumn road trip, Noise Floor catches the reactivated Gaslight Anthem with Jeff Rosenstock way up north.
Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem are currently in the midst of their big comeback, their first run of shows since 2018’s ’59 Sound anniversary tour and first as a full-time functioning band in seven years. They’ve clearly been missed in the interim, as late September’s packed crowd at the somewhat remote Rapids Theatre on Niagra Falls’ New York side spoke to. Many had trekked from nearby Buffalo, some from much further, and all had come primed for a night of cathartic singalongs that the band was happy to deliver (in between some patented freeform monologuing from frontman Brian Fallon, of course).
I say “somewhat remote” in the sense of anything in western New York feeling remote from Boston, but also in Niagra’s remoteness from many other things. The city has gone through some tough economic times, and surrounding the Rapids on most sides were dark windows and boarded-up doors, but the theater itself has persevered. Proudly billed as one of the region’s most haunted buildings (it even has a Ghost Hunters episode), the venue is no frills but plenty of heart. Drinking Labatt Blues from the cash-only bar evoked a certain roadhouse charm that a big city venue is simply not delivering.
All of which is to say, the setting felt like a unique one in which to catch The Gaslight Anthem on this tour. After the time away, they’re largely playing big rooms like Boston’s shiny new MGM Music Hall right now; the Rapids, by comparison, was quite an intimate experience. Both band and audience seemed to feel it, resulting in a freewheeling evening with multiple called audibles among the setlist. The band hit plenty of their classics, including a good chunk of the beloved ’59 Sound, and mined some requests from audience signs in a particularly Springsteenian nod. They sounded great, and though there were no previews of the new music Fallon has indicated that Gaslight is working on, this crowd was plenty content to stick with the songs they knew by heart.
On tour with the band was the always-spectacular Jeff Rosenstock, who took the abbreviated opening set time as motivation to play an even faster and more frantic show than usual (which is saying something). Rosenstock and the band kicked off, appropriately enough, with No Dream’s “NO TIME” before ripping through a breathless 40 minutes that culminated in Jeff trekking to the soundboard, sax in hand, to serenade the crowd with the climax of “You, In Weird Cities.” Gaslight probably pull an older-on-average crowd than the typical Rosenstock show, but the reception indicated he still had plenty of fans in the house.
Check out photos from both sets below.
