For the first time in almost ten years, Australians will see The Gaslight Anthem perform live when they return for Good Things Festival – and three side shows – this December.
The Gaslight Anthem announced a hiatus in 2015, and in 2022 the band returned with a surprise live performance. Vocalist Brian Fallon secretly turned one of his solo shows in his home town into a Gaslight Anthem reunion show.Since then, the band have been making up for lost time and returned to a packed touring schedule. Bassist Alex Levine says that a return to touring had been a strong motivation to reunite.
"It felt like something was missing in my life for quite a while when we weren't touring," Alex explains. "I think during COVID, it was the realisation of like, 'whoa, this may never happen again,' and that was sad. So I think it really gave us a kick in the ass to figure it out."
The Gaslight Anthem released their most recent album 'History Books' in 2023. It features a collaboration on the title track with The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. In a moment beyond Alex's wildest dreams, The Gaslight Anthem performed the song live with Bruce for the first time earlier this year.
"You really can't dream about things like that. It's not even like on your radar, I can't dream about one day I'm going to have a song with Bruce Springsteen and I'm basically going to open up for him and we're going to be on the beach at Asbury Park. Like what?"
Since reuniting, the ideas are flowing inside The Gaslight Anthem camp. The band have since released an EP, 'History Books - Short Stories' – including a cover of 'Ocean Eyes' by Billie Eilish – and released an expanded, remixed edition of 'History Books'.
The band now release their music through their own record label where ideas are able to flourish due to this new found freedom. "We have a lot of ideas to go and I think making that decision of 'okay, we're back full time and this is what we're doing and we don't see an end in sight', that kind of opens a lot of doors. . . but it also takes pressure off of 'okay we have to do this now' or whatever it may be.
"We have our own record label now. There really isn't a lot of outside pressure to do things that we don't want to do maybe or have to record something, or whatever it may be. At our point in our career, we've been around a long time.
"We know who we're playing to. We know that our fan base is super loyal. . . they know that we just want to put music out now and we're going to continue to just put music out.
"It doesn't always have to be surrounded by a big record push or single or whatever it may be. The door is kind of open for what's coming next."
Alex is excited to return to Australia and to see friends at Good Things Festival, as well as seeing Korn for the first time, who he believes don't always receive the credit they deserve. "It sucks to [travel to Australia] obviously, everybody says that, but once you're there it's paradise. It's unbelievable.
"We've got some friends [playing at Good Things Festival], the guys from Sum 41 and Frank Turner's there. I think Korn is playing right? That's going to be cool. I've never seen them.
"I always thought Jonathan Davis was super interesting and does not get enough credit as being a really serious artist, I think that guy's pretty remarkable."
The Gaslight Anthem 2024 Tour Dates
Mon 2 Dec - The Tivoli (Brisbane)Tue 3 Dec - Liberty Hall (Sydney)
Wed 4 Dec - Croxton Bandroom (Melbourne)* sold out
Good Things Festival 2024 Line-up
KornSum 41
Violent Femmes
Electric Callboy
Billy Corgan w/ The Delta Riggs
Mastodon
Kerry King
The Gaslight Anthem
Jet
The Living End
L7
Northlane
Bowling For Soup
Alpha Wolf
Sleeping With Sirens
The Butterfly Effect
311
AViVA
Destroy Boys
Dragon
Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls
From Ashes To New
Grandson
Highly Suspect
Imminence
Killing Heidi (performing 'Reflector' in full)
Loathe
Reliqa
Taylor Acorn
Stage 666
Good Things Festival 2024 Tour Dates
Fri 6 Dec - Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)Sat 7 Dec - Centennial Park (Sydney)
Sun 8 Dec - Brisbane Showgrounds
