LIVE REVIEW: The Gaslight Anthem, Emily Wolfe, O2 Academy, Glasgow, 18/03/2024
Photo Credit: Shiona Walker
When The Gaslight Anthem released their first album in ten years with October’s History Books the band may have wondered if their popularity was waning, we found out tonight that the answer to that question is definitely no. The band decided to begin the UK leg of the History Books tour at the O2 Academy in Glasgow which was long sold out before moving on to Edinburgh the following night.
For all those that turned up early for the support band Emily Wolfe they knew that it was going to be a special night. By 8pm the standing area was filling up as Emily and the band took to the stage immediately showing their refined playing skills as they worked through a ten track setlist, with five of those coming from Wolfe’s third album The Blowback, released in October 2023. A highlight of the set was how easily Wolfe moved from a six string to a double necked guitar and we watched in awe as she wowed the crowd with some magnificent guitar riffs, the Texan has been playing guitar since the age of five and it shows! The fans appreciated the cover of T Rex track The Slider in the middle of the set but the best was left to the last song of the set with Holy Roller. Emily Wolfe was a great choice of support for the UK and Europe tour. 7/10
New Jersey rockers The Gaslight Anthem have eight albums to their name and we would get to hear a good mixture of old and new tracks during their twenty-two song set tonight jumping straight in with I Live In The Room Above Her from the new History Books album with vocalist Brian Fallon showing his range of vocals and guitar skills to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd as the set continued with 1,000 years and the excellent 1930 and Biloxi Parish, the band are putting everything into their performance during the first night of the UK tour. It wasn’t long before a large mosh pit opened up in the middle of the room helping to build some energy throughout the crowd as the band continued with another track from the new album, Spider Bites being one of the best of the night which speaks volumes about the band as it is one that touches the soul. Sadly Get Hurt was missed out tonight, the title track from the 2014 album and a very popular song amongst the fanbase. Comparisons have been made between The Gaslight Anthem and Bruce Springsteen, indeed The Boss himself duets on the title track from the History Books album but was another one that was left out tonight perhaps saving it for when Springsteen can make a special appearance at some point in the future.
The crowd cheered wildly as it was announced that Emily Wolfe would be returning to the stage to play two songs with the band beginning with The Weatherman as they share vocal duties, while Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts is absolutely spot on and wins over the crowd once again. When Wolfe leaves the stage for the last time of the night the crowd show their appreciation realising that they had just witnessed something special. The set ends with some of the bands big hitters in Mulholland Drive, Michigan, 1975 and The 59’ Sound as they take us on a journey through their back catalogue finishing up with We’re Getting A Divorce, You Keep The Diner which had the crowd dancing and singing along for one last time. Next up was the O2 Academy in Edinburgh before continuing the tour down south with most dates sold out. 8/10
Written by: Alan Brown
