Vainstream Beastfest (Posted Date: 05 Jul 2009, 20:49)

Vainstream Beastfest

w/ Ignite / Broilers / The Gaslight Anthem / The Dillinger Escape Plan / Cro-Mags / Comeback Kid / Muff Potter

04.07.09 Schlachthof, Wiesbaden

I'm not really a festival type anymore, I dislike bad weather, overpriced drinks and camping. Vainstream was different: the weather was excellent and even if it had rained: the bands played indoors at the Schlachthof; drinks were cheap and you got one day tickets in case you didn't want to stay the whole two days which we didn't.

Muff Potter
We arrived quite late so we only heard some of their songs from outside the venue and just got in to see the final moments of 100 Kilo. As I've seen them quite often now I didn't really care to have missd them.

Comeback Kid
Really good hardcore though not exactly my cup of tea but better than expected.

Cro-Mags
A NYC hardcore legend with quite an all-star line-up: John Joseph on vocals being the only original members, AJ Novello from Leeway on guitar and Craig Setari from Sick Of It All on bass.
But that was not enough to really impress me. As mentioned above, hardcore is not really my music. The fast songs were nice but the rest including a Leeway cover were boring.

The Dillinger Escape Plan
Crazy shit, the math core outfit was a spectacular of their own. The brawling vocals sounded annoying, the freaky mix of metal and hardcore rhythms seemed too complex to grasp them live but the pure energy and stage acting including acrobatic stunts like speaker climbing were great.

The Gaslight Anthem
They are everyone's darlings and deservedly so. "Bruce" Fallon is smiling all the time obviously enjoing their constantly growing popularity and the band still kicks ass and wins everyone over with their music. They played nearly the same set as opening for Social Distortion but included Wooderson to my delight.

Broilers
A German punk band with ska and Oi influences, again not my cup of tea but they got a great response from the audience and were really good.

Ignite
My judgment from last year's show in Essen still holds: the music is ok but I can't really stand the band live. Their movement on stage looks choreographed like a boy band's dance moves and the singer's announcements are embarassing. We left after only five songs so at least I couldn't get pissed off by Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Social Distortion (Posted Date: 20 Jun 2009, 06:00)

Social Distortion / The Gaslight Anthem / The Black Sheep

17.06.09 Philipshalle, Düsseldorf

Social Distortion are celebrating their 30th anniversary with this tour and the Düsseldorf show turned out to the biggest gathering of fully tattooed grey-haired rockers I've ever been to.
The Black Sheep, a german low-budget version of The Donnas, are opening the evening. They're four girls pretending to rock and they are boring, even their version of Teenage Kicks.
The Gaslight Anthem took my heart by storm with Sink Or Swim and I was sad to miss out on their last tour this February. They've become bigger and bigger over the last 18 months and tonight they proved that they are able to play big stages and that they will do so in the future. They focused on the songs from The '59 Sound and only played We Came To Dance from the first album. They even included a fake phone call by Mike Ness during the set but it didn't produce a painful impression. The music was tight, the band was in a good mood and they seemed to have won a lot of new fans regarding the raucous reception they received from the crowd.
"Bring me the head of Evan Dando" was written on Social Distortion's bass drum when I saw them for the first time. That was twelve years ago at a Rockpalast festival also at the Philipshalle and it was particularly funny as The Lemonheads were also on the bill that night. Mike Ness even mentioned that show when he introduced I Won't Run No More.
Tonight Social Distortion started in overdrive and got the capacity crowd dancing and singing along immediately. But as they played such highlights as Mommy's Little Monster, Sick Boys, Don't Drag Me Down and Ring Of Fire in succession very early in the set teh rest of the show couldn't keep up with it. Lame jokes between the songs and an abrupt end just after an hour also didn't help to keep me excited. They returned for an encore but after 80 minutes it was over.
Social Distortion were only mediocre but The Gaslight Anthem could compensate that and were my highlight of the night.

The Gaslight Anthem (Posted Date: 29 Jun 2008, 17:50)

The Gaslight Anthem / The Escape Artist / Whisk

27.06.08 FZW, Dortmund

What happens when you meet friends at a show? You usually miss the support acts. I only got to hear Whisk and The Escape Artist from outside the FZW as I preferred to have a drink and a chat.
The Gaslight Anthem had changed their setlist a bit compared to the Münster show. This time they opened with We Came To Dance and they included two more new songs from the forthcoming album into the set, High Lonesome and Meet Me By The River's Edge. Again, the crowd sang along loudly to the hits such as 1930, I Coulda Been A Contender or the grand finale, Say I Won't (Recognize). The sound was much better than at the Gleis 22, you could hear Brian's vocals crystal clear but the Münster gig still provided more energy because of the smaller, more intimate venue.
Meanwhile I had the chance to listen to the The '59 Sound and thought it doesn't have as many anthems as Sink Or Swim it's a grower and briliant as well, especially The Backseat, my favourite track from the new album. Only the sound is lacking a bit of the energy and power something missing as well on the Senor And The Queen EP so the new tracks unfold their full potential only when you hear them live.
"And I carry these songs like a comfort wherever I go."

The Gaslight Anthem (Posted Date: 20 Jun 2008, 17:01)

The Gaslight Anthem / Just Us And Jonas

18.06.08 Gleis 22, Münster

I discovered Sink Or Swim, The Gaslight Anthem's debut album quite late but it immediately won my heart and easily became my favourite record of 2007. Meanwhile they've released an EP and finished recording their second cd and found time to visit Germany for an extensive tour.
But before I could finally enjoy my current faves for the first time live I had to endure about 30 minutes of local Jimmy Eat World clones named Just Us And Jonas. I don't want to slag them off but they didn't play too well as they seemed to be very nervous so I suggest to them spending more time in the rehearsal room.
The Gaslight Anthem are from New Jersey and there are always Bruce Springsteen references in articles or reviews about them and I have to admit that Brian Fallon on stage really reminds me of The Boss when he was much younger. The whole band is bursting with energy and you can see in their faces how much they enjoy the crowd responding to their songs by singing along and partying. Münster made no difference. As soon as the first chords from Drive resounded the people started to dance around, throw their fists in the air and shout out the lyrics as if they were their own. The band thanked them by playing every single tune from both Sink Or Swim and Senor And The Queen and also presenting some new songs from the forthcoming album The '59 Sound. As a first encore Brian returned alone to play Red In The Morning and Red At Night on his own before the whole band finished their set with two new songs.
The cd should be out in August and will definitely be a contender for my personal album of the year award. Until then I'm still singing "It's alright, man / I'm only bleeding, man / Stay hungry, stay free and do the best that you can" to myself.