The Gaslight Anthem Rock Lupo’s To Smithereens

Photo credit: Sierra Sant’Anna

It’s not every day you get to see a bunch of punks from New Jersey come to Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel and rock the joint, but The Gaslight Anthem did that on Fri, Feb 27. They were joined on tour with fellow New Jersians The Scandals & Canadians Northcote to create a high-octane experience audiences wouldn’t soon forget. A packed house was kicking the weekend off right with a bunch of rock ‘n’ roll, and everyone was excited to see what would ensue.

The Scandals have some local ties. Bassist Sean Patrick Carney is a Providence native, so you could have called this show his coming home party. Reminiscent of Hot Water Music & The Bouncing Souls, The Scandals exhibited a riff-heavy sound that set the night right. A blistering set included the songs “Losing Teeth”, “Lucky 7’s” and “Sold On Merit.”

Northcote came up next, and they had an interesting mix of pop punk and alternative rock. They tried getting the crowd into it from the get-go, but you couldn’t really feel the energy flowing throughout the room despite their efforts. Northcote was okay, but they just seemed too generic for me to really enjoy them. I appreciated frontman Matt Goud’s heart-on-his-sleeve attitude throughout their set. Other than that, musically Northcote just seemed average when compared to everything else that was going on that night. A portion of the set had Goud performing a couple ballads solo on acoustic guitar, which I actually liked. “Stronger Than You Know” had a lot of pep to it and I enjoyed the driving guitars. “Walking Home In The Rain” was a weird way for Northcote to end their performance, and most of what I heard was the same guitar chord over and over again.

I was looking forward to what The Gaslight Anthem had in store. Lupo’s started filling up and people were getting revved up to see them take the stage. Lead by Brian Fallon who just woke up from a nap, they exploded into “The ’59 Sound” that put the entire audience into a state of pandemonium. With a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ along with a few crowd surfers, “Handwritten” was simply electrifying and brought emotions up to a high. After a spiel from Fallon about his opinions on the one and only Neil Young and how much he can’t stand Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Freebird,” The Gaslight Anthem roared with “High Lonesome” and then got all lovesick with “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” that had people going absolutely insane. “1,000 Years” continued a night of hyped energy around the entire performance with the crowd chanting the chorus of “Hey yay yay yay” like a bunch of crazed followers to a messiah. One of my personal favorites, “45,” kicked in and everyone in the building was singing in unison. Then they went right into “Howl” with blistering riffs and triumphant vocals. With a twangy, stripped-down version of “Great Expectations” followed by the rager “Meet Me By The Rivers Edge,” The Gaslight Anthem’s set was about to conclude, so I was interested to see how they were going to finish off a near two-hour performance. Highlighted by the classics “Wooderson” and “Film Noir” and hitting the audience one last time with “The Backseat,” these rockers from New Jersey definitely gave fans their money’s worth with a raucous vibe and vigorous energy.

If you’re in the area you can check out The Gaslight Anthem, Northcote, and The Scandals at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC. While you’re at it, grab a copy of The Gaslight Anthem’s newest release, Get Hurt, at the friendly merch table at the venue. If it’s as fun as it was at Lupo’s, then you’d better not miss out.