The Loved Ones / The Gaslight Anthem / The Ergs | First Unitarian Church, PA | 2/24/08

This is possibly the most important way someone can tell they’ve just attended a stupendous show: immediately after showering off the sweat and pit grime, you’re on the computer checking when the band is coming back or if the show the next day is within driving distance. That was the other night at The First Unitarian Church in Philly. After the Gaslight Anthem ripped the venue apart, the Loved Ones put it back together then ripped it apart again. That, combined with pleasantly surprising openers Amateur Party and The Ergs, made this my favorite show of the year so far.

Read all about it after the jump.

Per usual, the R5 Productions show started half an hour late. By the time Amateur Party took the stage, the crowd was getting antsy. I feared for the Philadelphia band’s ability to win them over, but was relieved when they ended up being quite good. Live, I thought they sounded a bit like a more upbeat Bear vs. Shark (vocals in particular) but their recorded stuff puts them more in the vein of a Ted Leo spin-off. My only beef with them was the vague, meandering political statements they made in between songs. Say it with the music, guys!

I’ll be honest: I’ve listened to second openers the Ergs before, and they did nothing for me. Nonetheless, I found myself won over by their heartfelt nerd rock. It was impressive that despite frantically pounding away like a good punk rock drummer should, I could still make out Mike Yannich’s snarly (in the most non-threatening way possible) lyrics. I don’t know if I’d listen to them regularly, but I did a fair amount of jumpin’ around while they played, and the crowd seemed to appreciate them.

After they finished, I shouldered my way to the front. Thanks to the interweb and it’s preponderance of live videos, I knew I had good reason to be excited for the Gaslight Anthem‘s set. I wasn’t the only one; a good portion of the crowd appeared to be just as excited. As soon as the band took they stage, it was pretty obvious why. On a scale of 1 to 10, their set rated a “fuck yeah.” In fact, multiple people (including my die-hard Loved Ones fan roommate) said The Gaslight Anthem upstaged The Loved Ones that night. The front half of the church dissolved into a mass of jumping, fist pumping bodies in response Brian Fallon and crew’s insane stage energy. The band even seemed a little bit surprised at the crowd’s response; Fallon remarked at one point that it “feels like we’re back in Jersey [their home area].” They closed with “I Coulda Been A Contender,” at which point The Gaslight Anthem officially owned the night.

At any other venue, The Loved Ones would have been a bit nervous about following an act like that. But this is Philly, and you can say anything you want about this city (actually, don’t – someone might shoot you), but we take care of our own. They took the stage, giant banner behind them, and proceeded to give the crowd exactly what they wanted. Dave Hause introduced his sister on keyboards to assist with songs like “Selfish Masquerade” off of their latest, Build and Burn (Fat Wreck). I wasn’t quite sure about that addition at first, but it ended up working out nicely. They played a good mix of tunes; lots of new ones but quite a few off of my favorite, Keep Your Heart (Fat Wreck). They closed with possibly the most annoying song released this year thus far, “Louisiana,” which was a bummer. Hause partly redeemed himself though by replacing the “Biloxi and Alabama” part of the song with Philadelphia suburbs like “Roxborough and Juniata.” Cute.

‘Twas a superb night all around – found a decent new Philly band, got my pants rocked off by The Gaslight Anthem, and saw a sweet band play a sold out hometown show.

The Ergs

The Gaslight Anthem

The Loved Ones