Date of event: 25 March 2024

Turned the record over again with The Gaslight Anthem a decade later, this time adding a page at London’s Roundhouse to the UK and Europe leg of the band’s ‘History Books’ tour.
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The intervening verses since Coachella 2013 had one more album for us to appreciate before the guys headed into hiatus mode with start-stop reformations. Frontman Brian Fallon also bridged into a solo career for a few years, so it left the future uncertain for the New Jersey heartland-punk rockers.
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But nothing beats the boys being back on stage together and playing new music too.

I never got to catch their 2018 and 2022 reunion shows, so my portal to this performance was straight from those festival fields in the desert to the first of three nights the band are currently playing at the legendary London venue.
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Aside from the shaggy, long locks of the lead singer and the general salt & pepper that comes with middle age, the Gaslight still burns as brightly as I remember.

They’re a bit older and wiser now, choosing to fuel their set with a few features from guest singers like Blue Violet and opening act Emily Wolfe, as well as tracks from their 2023 return-to-form record.

This is a band, however, who even in their prime were longingly indulging in nostalgia; dreaming of classic cars and movie screens and hearing the 59 Sound coming through on Grandmama’s radio.

So what else can we do but lace up our high-top sneakers and show off our sailor tattoos? My fortune’s still in American Slang.