Helen Boast Photography, Redferns
That's not to say that the Gaslight Anthem were spurning New Yorkers; rather, they were playing the biggest headlining show of their young careers, in front of many of their friends and relatives. Four years ago, they were hauling gear out of a ramshackle van to play afternoon gigs in front of a few dozen people at tiny spaces like ABC No Rio and Trash Bar. To put it in perspective, it took the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the National nearly twice as long to make the leap to Radio City.
Over the course of the 24-song set, the band drew from their entire catalog, kicking off the night with 'High Lonesome' from 2008's 'The '59 Sound.' In the past, the band has mainly played their songs louder and faster but without any breakdowns or drawn-out sections, but on Thursday, they took the opportunity to mix things up a bit. Songs were given extra intros and longer guitar solos, and Fallon even handed off guitar duties to an extra musician -- a guitar tech maybe? -- for three songs, allowing him to prowl the stage with the microphone and get his whole body into his singing. And luckily, some early sound issues were corrected after a few songs, bringing Alex Rosamilia's guitar back into the mix and letting Fallon be heard clearly.
When he got back on guitar for 'The '59 Sound,' the entire crowd -- including all three balcony levels -- was singing in full force, and Fallon let the fans take most of the "ain't supposed to die on a
