Bouncing Souls / Gaslight Anthem

Bouncing Souls / Gaslight Anthem: live in Asbury Parklive in Asbury Park (2008)
Epitaph Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

Contributed by: TorgoTorgo
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on January 13th 2009When it was announced that the Bouncing Souls' annual Home for the Holidays was being moved down the street to The Grande Arcade at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, I wasn't worried. However, I had no idea what The Grande Arcade was. Upon entering the building, it became quite evident The Grande Arc.

When it was announced that the Bouncing Souls' annual Home for the Holidays was being moved down the street to The Grande Arcade at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, I wasn't worried. However, I had no idea what The Grande Arcade was. Upon entering the building, it became quite evident The Grande Arcade was a nice way of saying the Convention Hall's hallway. While it wasn't a real venue, the sound quality didn't take the dive I expected it to, and it opened the floodgates for 100 tickets at the door for the formerly sold out night with co-homestate heroes the Gaslight Anthem.

The Gaslight Anthem waltzed on stage to a huge ovation and sprung into "Great Expectations." I had to idea what to expect from the crowd, but TGA got the full treatment: rush to the stage, arms in the air and kids dancing. Two tracks later, the sheer volume of "We Came to Dance," combined with crowd intensity, I could have mistaken myself for being at a basement show. TGA's tightness as a live band can't be overstated; they seem to have upped their game even since I saw them a few months ago; any nervousness for playing in front of their families in attendance was not evident. Particular highlights included interpolating Tom Waits' "Downtown Train" before the breakdown of "Angry Johnny and the Radio" and "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," a song I feel is completely emotionless on record but never ceases to amaze me as one of their consistently premier live performances. Brian Fallon gave a cute monologue about how the Bouncing Souls is one of his favorite bands, and that as a teenager when he saw Bryan of the Souls wearing a leather jacket, he knew he needed to own one.

When they announced they had one song left, my knees were getting weak while thinking of what track could it be. "Drive"? "We're Getting a Divorce, You Keep the Diner"? "I Coulda Been a Contender"? To my chagrin it ended up being "The Backseat." "The Backseat" has grown on me but most of you would agree the punx should have been upped a little harder for their closing track.

Set list:

Great Expectations
The Patient Ferris Wheel
We Came to Dance
Old White Lincoln
I'da Called You Woody, Joe
Angry Johnny and the Radio
The '59 Sound
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Miles Davis & the Cool
Meet Me by the River's Edge
Say I Won't (Recognize)
The Backseat

While waiting for the Bouncing Souls to come on, I began to think "Is it possible more of the crowd was there for the Gaslight Anthem? Has the torch been passed?" As the Souls came out in matching Christmas sweaters (aw!) and went into "Manthem," it became clear quite quickly that no matter how big Gaslight gets, the Bouncing Souls are officially "New Jersey's Punk Band." The band seemed liberated; usually they stick to the same core 20 tracks for their set lists, but this was the first time in a long time I didn't know what they would play next. Thankfully, they sacrificed oft-played numbers like "That Song" and "The Something Special" and treated us to the likes of "Born to Lose" and "Neurotic."

The Souls' energy usually depends on the size of the venue (if you can see them without a barricade, that would be ideal) and in front of 875, their intensity was a little above average for a Bouncing Souls gig. More active than at a fest date, but more sedated when compared to smaller affairs. Coincidence or not, this was possibly the tightest set I've seen them play in a few years, save for a few vocal or count-in fuck-ups one would expect at a punk gig. Maybe I'm a sucker for smoke and mirrors but one element that made this night special was the stage being wrapped in Christmas lights and the giant Christmas tree off to the side of venue. Compared to last year, there was more holiday flavoring here.

After a "True Believers" with Timmy Chunks and Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance, the boys gave us "Kate Is Great" and the nostalgic "Night on Earth" before the encore. During the break, a guy in an Ergs! shirt and I discussed how heartbroken we were, but before we knew it Bryan was on stage playing the bass line to "Joe Lies (When He Cries)." Followed by "Hopeless Romantic," both songs got predictably huge crowd responses. Even though I lamented TGA ending their set slower rather than faster, the Souls ended their set in possibly the best way possible: "Night Train." I haven't heard them play it live since 2004, and wasn't immediately aware of what was going to happen when Bryan put down his bass and Greg moved over from center stage. The crowd was noticeably ecstatic, and Bryan got thunderous applause when he kept upping the ante each verse with loud, impassioned vocals. They left the stage one by one, galloping into the sunset that is 2009, their 20th anniversary, with promised surprises and constant touring. According to their documentary, this is really their 22nd year, but who's counting?

Set list:

Manthem
Say Anything
Quick Chek Girl
Private Radio
Kids & Heroes
Gasoline
East Coast, Fuck You!
I Like Your Mom
No Security
The Ballad of Johnny X
So Jersey
Moon Over Asbury
Hybrid Moments
Gone
Lean on Sheena
Sing Along Forever
Born to Lose
Growin' Up
Neurotic
True Believers
Kate Is Great
Night on Earth
-----
Encore:
Joe Lies (When He Cries)
Hopeless Romantic
Anchors Aweigh
Night Train

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Torgo (January 14, 2009)

Re: danperrone: Yeah, during the build up to the climax of Angry Johnny and the Radio, Brian sang a few verses (but not the chorus) while playing the guitar line to it every-so-slightly. And Stand By Me was the intro to I'da Called You Woody Joe. And yeah I haven't played them Growin' Up is so long, I fucking love hearing that live.

Re: sickboi: Yeah I blew it, I had work and didn't get there until the middle of Gimmie Drugs.

Re: necktattoo: I thought it was going to sound like shit too but it ended up sounding just fine.

necktattoo (January 14, 2009)

i remember some bands playing in that hallway for Skate & Surf. the sound in there is fucking terrible

Problematiclogic (January 14, 2009)

yeah TGA usually play 'stand by me', i think it's as the intro to 'i'da call you woody'...?

skankbook (January 14, 2009)

I've seen the Souls no less than 20 times (I've lost track), but this was definitely in their top 3 performances. The change in venue to the Convention Center Arcade was a welcome change.

I was able to get videos of "Old White Lincoln," "The 59 Sound," "Quick Check Girl," "The Ballad of Johnny X," and acoustic version of "Gone," and "Night Train."

http://www.youtube.com/user/skankbook

sickboi (January 14, 2009)

Great show, but you failed to mention Let Me Run, who opened it and played a hell of a set.

-chris

danperrone (January 14, 2009)

i actually did not like "night train" as a closer at all. it's cool that they played a rarity, but the song didn't fit the mood, and after the song, they just...left. walked off the stage. no saying thanks, nothing. silence. everyone was just kind of puzzled, wondering if it was over. it was quite weird.

the gaslight anthem were actually even better than i expected. did they really play "downtown train"? i could have sworn they played "stand by me" before one of the songs...maybe it was a different song. but i really don't remember "downtown train".

"growin' up" was AWESOME!! it translates really well to punk rock. the souls were good. not amazing but just good. fun to watch, but not super fun. they'd get around a 7 out of 10 for me. the gaslight anthem would get an 8 and change.

the opener, let me run, is an awesome band. everyone check them out.

BarleyPat (January 13, 2009)

Score is for the review and both bands in general.

Night train is fucking great and a perfect closer.

FaithIsForFools (January 13, 2009)

Show probably would've been great if it wasn't for Gaslight Anthem. Shit-bags.

Jelone (January 13, 2009)

"Growin' Up"? Jealous. I'd love to hear "Night Train" live again. That song never gets old for me, but then neither do any of the Souls' other songs.

ozmanx (January 13, 2009)

Seemed like a helluva show.

LinoleumMagazine (January 13, 2009)

Damn I really hope the Souls play all that old stuff at SXSW too.
I havent seen them play Joe Lies or I like your Mom in at least 10 years.

damo (January 13, 2009)

good to hear about a Souls gig with varied songs and Greg putting some effort in