The Gaslight Anthem Tour Blog Part Two

Gaslight Anthem drummer Benny Horowitz gives Rock Sound an inside view on the band's UK dates in the second of his tour blog.

Posted Tuesday, 6 July 2010 by Benny Horowitz in

Blog

I'm nearly certain that we've been to Manchester four times, and each time we've moved to a bigger room with a bigger crowd. From the Roadhouse, floor to floor in the Academy, and now across the street (Seriously, they may want to consider some more clever names for these places). I was relieved to be out of the other building, I can't navigate that place for the life of me.

Fairly unremarkable day, went to a food co-op for some good vegetarian eats. Then warmed up, watched some of Sharks/Twin Atlantic and played some drums. As usual, Manchester is a great city for us, and with the exception of not going to Chinese karaoke, it lived up to all past trips and more. Sold out crowd who was super active, probably the most of tour up until that point.

We left that night for our much anticipated London shows, Hyde Park and Brixton Academy, respectively. I woke up in a parking lot behind the Hard Rock Calling stage, and marveled at how it was the exact same set-up as last year. There was something oddly comforting, and also off-putting about it. Almost like a year hadn't passed since the last one and I was stuck in a Quantum Leap time freeze.

We loaded in and set up quite early, mixed in with a bunch of press commitments and before I knew it we were on stage. This show I was particularly excited for because Pearl Jam was headlining, and they were one of my favorite bands during my burgeoning underground music past. Pearl Jam 'Ten' and Alice in Chains 'Dirt' were my first two compact discs, so the idea of playing with them now was surreal. Especially with Matt Cameron currently behind the drums, he's a legend.

We played a shorter set than usual, tried to pack in as many songs in a half-hour as possible and attempted to win over a crowd that was mostly die-hard PJ fans. I think it went well considering, and got even better during the last song when I looked over and saw Eddie Veder watching from the side. I kept thinking "don't fuck up" and we finished the set with Backseats. Afterwards, we had a chance to meet him, he was very subdued and friendly and I was totally star struck. I wanted to quote his line from the movie Singles when he played the drummer of the band Citizen Dick, but, I controlled myself and managed not to put my nose in his ass. A real treat regardless.

Later that night I battled a head-cold coupled with a bad mood and went out to the crowd for about an hour of their set. They are still tight, unique and powerful. A truly great rock band. It was an honor to play with them.

The next day we had our long awaited show at the Brixton Academy. I'd like to think that no show is more important than another, regardless of the amount of people in attendance. But I'd be lying, and a bit naive to think that this show wasn't special for us. Seeing that room, and knowing who has played there before us, it was certainly a treat, and a privilege. By the time we got on stage, there were almost 5,000 people inside waiting to see us. Again, this is a wild concept for us to swallow.

I tried to heed my own advice that I gave to the guys from Sharks a few days earlier - there is no point to this unless you're feeling it and having fun. Fun it was. From the first strum to the last, we fed off the crowd and vice-versa and somehow, such a huge place felt like an incredibly intimate show. There was one point where the lights were on and I saw all those hands and just couldn't shake an ear to ear grin. It was one of the best feelings I've ever been able to procure out of my black lined insides, and a visual I won't soon forget Afterwards I talked to some people outside and caught up with old friends inside. Overall a great night.

After the show Alex and I headed up to the farm with Ian and spent the night. The next day we had time off and Ian's parents were nice enough to host a proper English lunch at their home. Excellent food and company, and surprisingly one of the nicest days for weather I've ever seen in the UK. We had a great time (even though England and Mexico lost in the World Cup that day). I spent another night at their house, and very much enjoyed the solitary time and relaxation. After the first run of headline sets in six months or so, my old bones needed a day to chill.

The next show was at, again, the Academy in Oxford. I thought I had been to this city before, but somewhere in the middle of the day I realized I had mistaken it for Cambridge. I felt like a right fool, and honestly, did nothing to remedy my lack of knowledge of the city except for hitting a low-key Jamaican bar after the show.

It was also our last night playing with Sharks, after over a week of touring we tried to see them off right. Good bunch of guys and a great young band. The show itself was the smallest and most intimate of tour, so during the set we tried out a couple things, including some old songs and the live premier of 'When We Were Young'. Our set was great, and it might have been Twin Atlantic's best of tour as well. Hell of a show for the first time in a city.

For the sake of brevity, I'll stop since this is Rock Sound and Oxford was our last show in the UK. We did finish with stops in Amsterdam and the Rock Werchter festival in Belgium. All in all, no one died and we had a great time... success in my book.