Walking into the oversold Court Tavern, I was greeted with literal steam. It's a folk show and it was the hottest venue I've ever been in, so much so that (thank you, re-entry) I walked back to my apartment and hung out there for an hour until I knew Dave Hause was about to go on.

Despite the 9-volt dying in his acoustic after a few songs and having to use his electric for the rest of the set (he was going to use it for only a few songs), Mr. Hause played a rewarding and well-received set of Loved Ones songs, covers and new solo tracks. Affable as always, he chatted up the crowd with a few anecdotes including, upon seeing a crowd member holding a book, speaking of a Thermals show he attended and saw kids in-between bands not drinking or talking, just sitting down and reading books; he also heckled a crowd member for not knowing who Benny Horowitz is ("There's a Brian, a Benny and two Alexs; it couldn't get any easier to remember"). He took "Drastic" as a request early in the set and, asking for another track, played "Jane" at my request (thanks Dave!). The Loved Ones' songs translated well in this setting, even "Pretty Good Year," which was taken down a few BPM and had some verses extended. His cover of the Explosion's "God Bless the S.O.S." got a stellar crowd reaction and wrapped up his 35-minute set with a new song about a friend overcoming drug addiction.

Set list:

1. Melanie (new)
2. Living Will
3. Drastic
4. Prague (new)
5. The Cheapest Key (Kathleen Edwards)
6. Jane
7. Pray for Tucson (new)
8. God Bless the S.O.S. (The Explosion)
9. Pretty Good Year
10. C'mon, Kid (new)

Brian Fallon came on stage with a smile and joking around doing impressions of people saying he's changed and kept telling the crowd "no refunds!" when someone would tell him to play a song while he was talking or yelling a Gaslight Anthem song he couldn't play. Opening with "Great Expectations," I was surprised with the amount of Gaslight Anthem songs he performed, I suspected it would be more similar to Dave's set with a handful of solo songs and covers such as Tom Waits's "Cold Cold Ground"--one of the songs on his MySpace when it existed.
"Señor and the Queen"--converted to just Brian with his acoustic--didn't match Gaslight's other more punk songs as solo numbers: "Wooderson," "1930" and "We Came to Dance" all fit perfectly in this setting. Just as any good Gaslight show, the "Two step!" yelled by the crowd during "We Came to Dance" was the loudest the crowd was all night. Brian played only one track from the upcoming American Slang (the tittle track) and followed it with the soon-to-be American Slang iTunes bonus track "She Loves You" (not the Beatles song), a bonus new song for the people in attendance who downloaded the leaked album...which seemed to be everybody. Brian preempted the song noting that he's not mad at anyone who downloaded the leak and, as with most bands, is just happy people want to hear his music.

A memorable part of the set came when a friend of his sang with him on two tracks, the first being "Pop Song (Green)" by Spring Heeled Jack followed by a song they wrote together when they were 19 years old. He concluded the set with the appropriate "Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts" and, after happily staying until the bar closed, talked to fans and left in his Honda back to Brooklyn.

Set list:

1. Great Expectations
2. The ‘59 Sound
3. Wooderson
4. The Navesink Banks
5. Old White Lincoln
6. Here's Lookin' at You, Kid
7. Miles Davis & The Cool
8. American Slang
9. She Loves You (American Slang B-side)
10. I'da Called You Woody, Joe
11. Señor and the Queen
12. 1930
13. We Came to Dance
14. Casanova, Baby
15. Pop Song (Green) (Spring Heeled Jack)
16. Teras (old, wrote when he was 19)
17. Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts