Before the Gaslight Anthem Brian Fallon was in a number of bands prior to the Gaslight Anthem, the most recent one being This Charming Man. The band went through a number of line-up changes, to the point where the band consisted of Fallon, Mike Volpe, Benny Horowitz, and Alex Levine. At this stage, the band renamed themselves to the Gaslight Anthem, due to a change in direction. After this, Volpe left and Alex Rosamilia joined, and the current line-up of the Gaslight Anthem was formed. The band's first gig was at The Only Game in Town in Somerville, New Jersey, in early 2006.
Sink or Swim (2007–2008) The Gaslight Anthem's debut,
Sink or Swim, was well received by both independent music review sites such as punknews.org,
AbsolutePunk.net, and more mainstream publications such as
Spin.com. The song "I Coul'da Been a Contender" was first played on commercial radio by Pete Lepore on "The Punkyard" specialty show on heritage NJ alternative station
WHTG, G Rock Radio 106.3/106.5. In 2009, the song "I'da Called You Woody, Joe" was featured as part of the soundtrack of the video games
Skate 2 and
Skate It. A 4-song EP titled
Señor and the Queen was released on February 5, 2008, through Sabot Productions. A double-7" vinyl version of the EP was also released on standard black vinyl, as well as limited edition pressings on clear vinyl, red vinyl (500 copies), and white vinyl (100 copies).
''The '59 Sound'' and breakthrough (2008–2010) The band's second album, ''
The '59 Sound'', was released on August 19, 2008, through
SideOneDummy Records. The record was produced by
Ted Hutt and features
Hot Water Music's Chris Wollard and the
Mighty Mighty Bosstones'
Dicky Barrett as guests. The album was voted the No. 1 album of 2008 by
eMusic, and received a high rating from
Pitchfork Media. The first song on the album, "Great Expectations", references the character Estella from the Charles Dickens
novel of the same title. In 2008, the band covered "
God's Gonna Cut You Down" for the
Johnny Cash tribute album
All Aboard! A Tribute to Johnny Cash. On August 6, 2008, the band made British music history becoming the first band to ever appear on the cover of
Kerrang! magazine without the magazine having previously written about them.
Kerrang! called them "The best new band you'll hear in 2008." In addition, the band received airplay on
BBC Radio 6 Music, and embarked on a UK and European tour in November. In 2009, the Gaslight Anthem supported
Social Distortion on their European tour and was announced as a supporting act for
Bruce Springsteen at
Hyde Park Calling. The band performed at
Pinkpop on June 1, 2009. At the
Glastonbury Festival on June 27, 2009, Springsteen joined the band on stage during their performance of "
The '59 Sound." Brian Fallon later contributed to Springsteen's headlining set, performing the song "
No Surrender." At London's
Hard Rock Calling festival on June 28, Springsteen again joined the band to perform "The '59 Sound", and Fallon again joined Springsteen in singing "No Surrender." The Gaslight Anthem subsequently performed at
Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 7, 2009.
American Slang (2010–2011) The band's third album, titled
American Slang, was released on June 14, 2010, in the UK and June 15, 2010, in the US. According to frontman Brian Fallon, the songwriting on the new album was different than on the band's previous efforts. He named the
Rolling Stones, Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, and
Derek and the Dominos as influences. In addition to five UK dates, the band played at festivals including
Bonnaroo Festival, the
Austin City Limits Music Festival,
Southside Festival,
Hurricane Festival,
Hard Rock Calling,
Rock Werchter,
The Guernsey Festival of Performing Arts,
A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise,
Reading and Leeds Festivals and
Øyafestivalen. The Gaslight Anthem toured the UK and Europe at the end of 2010 with support from
Chuck Ragan and
Sharks. They performed two songs from
American Slang on Episode 6, Series 37 of
Later... with Jools Holland, originally broadcast in the UK on October 22, 2010.
Handwritten (2012–2013) In July 2010, Fallon said he was already working on new material for a
fourth album. Subsequently, Fallon stated on his blog that the band would start writing their record in January 2011. However, prior to playing on
Pinkpop in June 2011, Fallon stated that they had just started working on the new album and that it would not be released for at least a few months. In the same interview, Fallon said only one song was finished so far, referring to
Biloxi Parish which they performed on stage at Pinkpop 2011 as well as
Rock Am Ring. Fallon stated that the band's next record would sound closer to their breakthrough record, ''
The '59 Sound, rather than American Slang''. During this time, Fallon was also working with good friend Ian Perkins on their side project,
the Horrible Crowes. On October 6, 2011, the Gaslight Anthem announced via
Facebook that they had signed with
Mercury Records. They stated that they were sorry to leave their friends at SideOneDummy, but felt that the change was necessary for their musical career. On October 14, 2011, the band announced that their last show before going into the studio to record their new album would be on December 9, 2011, at the
Asbury Park Convention Hall. On February 22, 2012, the band's
Twitter feed announced the forthcoming album would be titled
Handwritten. The album was released on July 20, 2012, in Germany, July 23 in the UK, and July 24 in the US. On September 21, 2012, in Pensacola, Florida, the Gaslight Anthem performed Pearl Jam's "
State of Love and Trust" live at DeLuna Fest with
Eddie Vedder on vocals. On November 30, 2012, the last of three nights in a row at
New York City's Terminal 5 venue, Fallon announced that they would be releasing a live DVD of the previous night's show.
Get Hurt (2014–2015) The band announced on July 4, 2013, via their Tumblr site, that they were "Working on new songs for a new Gaslight Anthem album in 2014." Fallon cites
Pearl Jam's
No Code album as an influence and inspiration for the upcoming album. On July 29, 2013, rumors about the band’s hiatus peaked from a Tumblr post by Brian Fallon. After playing a show in New York City, he explained his frustration about audiences continually requesting Bruce Springsteen covers. “My name isn’t Bruce,” he added. The band released a limited edition box set titled
Singles Collection: 2008-2011 in June 2013. The set compiled nine of the band's 7" singles in a wooden box. In December 2013 the band released their first
DVD, titled
Live in London, and one month later in January 2014 they released
The B-Sides, a collection of acoustic songs, live songs, and outtakes from their various singles. On March 10, 2014, the band entered Blackbird Studios in Nashville to record their fifth album. In an interview with
Rolling Stone published May 23, 2014, Fallon described the new record as "completely different than anything we had ever done before. Instead of going that extra step of just adding some organ or some background vocals, this time we actually really changed up a lot of the sounds." On June 16, 2014, the title of the album was announced as
Get Hurt. It was released on August 12, 2014. On July 24, 2014, the music video for the title track debuted. In 2014, the album's bonus track ("Once Upon a Time") was featured in the
20th Century Fox film ''
Devil's Due''.
Hiatus and ''The '59 Sound'' anniversary tour (2015–2021) On July 29, 2015, the band announced an indefinite hiatus following their European summer tour in support of
Get Hurt, which concluded at Reading Festival on Sunday 30 August. The band later announced that they were briefly reuniting for a string of shows celebrating the 10th Anniversary of ''
The '59 Sound''. Regarding the decision, Brian Fallon noted, "The big thing between us was let's just do what's fun. So if it's heavy-handed and not that cool, then let's not do it. But we all feel that this is an important record to not only us, but to the people that love it. I would not be on the phone talking about my
Sleepwalkers record had it not been for ''The '59 Sound''.". Fallon stated, however, that the band would not be working on new material during the reunion: "I think
Green Day's
American Idiot is probably the best comeback or mid-career record that any band has done. So if I was sitting on
American Idiot level stuff, then I might push for the, 'Hey guys, maybe we should try these songs out.' But I'm not sitting on that. I don't have a
Born to Run in me." In June 2018, the band released
The 59 Sound Sessions, a 10th anniversary album of nine early versions and B-sides from ''The '59 Sound''. They then celebrated this milestone with a tour through North America and Europe. After the tour's completion, the band reentered its indefinite hiatus, with Brian Fallon releasing two further solo albums,
Local Honey (2020) and
Night Divine (2021).
Reunion and History Books (2022–present) On March 25, 2022, the band announced on Instagram that it was reuniting and working on its sixth studio album, with Brian Fallon posting: "I am very pleased to announce to you all that The Gaslight Anthem is returning to full time status as a band. We’ll be announcing a lot of tour dates in the next couple of days. We’re also beginning to write new songs for what will be our sixth LP. We’re very much looking forward to the future and seeing you all again. We want to thank you for staying with us. Stay tuned!" A world tour was announced on March 28, with dates across Europe, the UK, and the United States. The tour began at the Columbiahalle in
Berlin, Germany, on August 9, 2022, and concluded on October 8, 2022, at the
PNC Bank Arts Center in
Holmdel, New Jersey, with another round of tour dates across North America throughout May 2023 being announced in February 2023. In December 2022, the band shared on their social media that they had begun recording their sixth studio album. On April 28, 2023, the band released a single, "Positive Charge". It marks their first new music in nine years. On July 21, 2023, the band announced its first studio album in nine years,
History Books, which was released on October 27, 2023. The announcement was accompanied by a single of the same name, featuring a guest vocal appearance from
Bruce Springsteen. The collaboration came about after the two met up in 2021 and discussed the possibility of Fallon reviving the band, with Springsteen later suggesting that Fallon write them a duet for a prospective project with the band. Of the song and collaboration, Fallon said, "There’s a definitely a little wink in there," alluding to the longstanding comparisons made between the band's sound and Springsteen's. "It’s like 'Now write this off,' we've got the approval of the guy! What are you going to say? You can't say anything!" "Little Fires" was released as the album's third single on September 5, 2023, followed by "Autumn", the record's fourth single, on October 3, accompanied by the announcement of EU/UK tour dates throughout 2024, including a headline slot at
2000 Trees Festival.
History Books was released on October 27, 2023, accompanied by the music video for the record's opening track, "Spider Bites." Following an Instagram post teasing "some extra stuff" on February 10, 2024, the band released a four track companion
EP titled
History Books - Short Stories on March 22, 2024. Produced by
Butch Walker, the EP features acoustic versions of both the title track and lead single "Positive Charge", a re-recorded version of "Blue Jeans & White T-shirts" (originally from their 2008 EP
Señor and the Queen) featuring
Emily Wolfe, and a cover of
Billie Eilish's 2016 track "
Ocean Eyes" featuring
Karina Rykman, which received its live debut at the
Manchester Apollo on the same day as its release. On February 17, 2024, the Gaslight Anthem performed at the NHL Stadium Series game between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In addition to performing a short three-song set during the first intermission, they played their song "Howl" on stage after each of the Devils' six goals during the game. ("Howl" is the Devils' goal song and the recorded version is played at their home arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, every time the Devils score a goal.) == Description and influences ==