LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: The Gaslight Anthem – Apollo, Manchester – 22/03/2024

Although it’s largely accepted now that The Gaslight Anthem are past a ‘biggest band in the world’ jumping-off point, they can still be treated like it. Case in point: their latest show at Manchester’s Apollo, a venue they’ve set up camp in the last handful of times they’ve been through the city, but that’s still sold out with considerable buzz in the air. Maybe it’s down to how, for the first time in a while, The Gaslight Anthem feel like a ‘proper’ band again. With hiatus firmly in the rearview and a decade-long drought of new music ended, it’s as much normalcy as this band tends to offer, particularly with History Books acting as a long-awaited return to Springsteen-doused, heartland-rock equilibrium.

Sure, there’s not a pyrotechnic thrill to be found within that, but in a more ornate theatre setting to predominantly older audience, that can still mean something. Perhaps it’s the logic behind Emily Wolfe as the sole support act, who’s gunning for a lot of the same results and gets there in a rather ‘opener’ way. It’s a good start that she’s already playing to near enough a full house, receptive as they are to intermingling genre cuts of Americana, granite-heavy blues-rock, indie-rock, grunge and even a Stapleton-esque country-blues sway on Steady. Although a little anonymous at times (especially with a run of placid indie cuts that far from represent her best face), Wolfe does exude a lot of confidence in stance and performing ability.

It’s to the point that, when she’s brought out by tonight’s headliners for a couple of mid-set collabs, everyone seems totally on-board and receptive of the decision. Then again, it’s a decision made by The Gaslight Anthem, whose popularity tonight is clearly in no short supply. What’s more, they’re at the stage where playing directly to those fans is a perfectly viable option; this tour alone has seen setlists chopped and changed from night to night, with deep cuts and fan faves as the main subjects of interest. Thus, there’s no ‘obvious’ setlist for The Gaslight Anthem. Sure, there’ll be Handwritten and 45 and, of course, The ‘59 Sound, but also Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts, a song from their 2008 EP Señor And The Queen that’s far removed from the mainstream-penetrating work, but yields likely a bigger response than any of it.

Brian Fallon being an exceptionally charismatic frontman doesn’t hurt either, mind. As a performer, he seems settled into a comfort that a love for being onstage brings, such are the magnitude of the beaming smiles and boyish quips he brings. Indeed, the namedrop of Bruce Springsteen—and the subsequent insane reaction to it—when talking about the gentrification of New Jersey’s Astbury Park seems to indicate everyone being on the same wavelength. He’s also phenomenal at relaying these songs, with the crags in his voice emphasised from the word ‘go’ on Positive Charge. What’s absent in visual spectacle is replaced tenfold by the weight exuded—the clean, sharp shuffle of Underneath The Ground; the propulsive thump of Mulholland Drive; the nostalgic sweep of a weathered old photo that steers Old White Lincoln and Mae (and, like, the majority of the set, really).

In terms of propagating and platforming this sort of ‘modern classic rock’, however such a phrase can be interpreted, The Gaslight Anthem really are on top of that particular ladder. The music wholeheartedly does the talking with nothing allowed to get in its way. Hell, the closest to any kind of gimmick is a cover of Billie Eilish’s ocean eyes, and even that’s got an official release from them. It’s not as good as the original, when pin-drop ethereality is slammed out the way for hollering, scratched alt-punk, but it’s still quick-thinking and new. Those aren’t terms regularly associated with music in this sphere, such is the nature of drawing that older crowd with set-in-stone tastes. The Gaslight Anthem are an exception, though; they’ve earned the right to show more of themselves like this. It’s more entertaining and fun that way, and speaks to why the love for The Gaslight Anthem has persisted in such an immovable way.

Words by Luke Nuttall

Photos by Faye Roberts (Instagram)