NJ Music Festivals

Concert Reviews

The Gaslight Anthem Came to Dance at hometown show

The Gaslight Anthem return to New Jersey for a sold-out Summer Stage show.

NJ Music Festivals Staff

August 19, 2024

1–2 minutes

Stone Pony, The Gaslight Anthem

The Gaslight Anthem, one of the biggest groups that have come out of New Jersey, ripped it up at their hometown show on the Stone Pony Summer Stage Friday.

The Gaslight Anthem, touring with Joyce Manor and Pinkshift supporting their newest record, ‘History Books,’ threw the term “radius clause” out the window ahead of their subeadlining set at Sea.Hear.Now in September.

Lead singer Brain Fallon, a Red Bank, New Jersey native, headlined two nights at House of Independents this June, celebrating the venues new renovation and owners.

At around 9:00 pm, The Gaslight Anthem hit the stage in Asbury Park to Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun,’ before hitting the crowd with one of their biggest hits, ‘American Slang.’

If you thought that would be their only hit to be played right off the bat, you’d be wrong, as they transitioned right into ’45,’ which is arguably their biggest hit, depending on where you look.

Though the tour was supporting their newest album, ‘History Books,’ they didn’t play much from the record, which makes sense considering it came out last year. They did not play the self-titled Springsteen-featured track, but they did play three songs: ‘Michigan, 1975,’ ‘Positive Charge,’ and ‘The Weatherman.’

For a hometown show, it had a mix of everything – even stuff off their first record, like ‘1930’ and ‘We Came to Dance.’

The show concluded with a fan-favorite duo of ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘The ’59 Sound,’ followed by their “encore” of ‘The Backseat.’ Lead singer Brain Fallon isn’t into leaving the stage and coming back for an encore, but the group still likes to play an additional song after their hits.

Full Setlist: