I have been a Brian Fallon devotee since 2008, hearing the first chords of “The ’59 Sound”. Since then, I have seen Fallon four times with The Gaslight Anthem, once with The Horrible Crowes, and his June 20th show at the Troubadour marked my third time seeing him solo.
In fact, every solo show (and The Horrible Crowes show, which became an excellent live album) have been at Los Angeles’ historic venue. The first time in 2010, it was just Fallon, sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar and singing some early originals like “Tin Pan Alley”, a cover of The Afghan Whig‘s cover of The Clash‘s “Lost in the Supermarket/Train in Vain” and acoustic takes on The Gaslight Anthem‘s catalog up until that point. While it was certainly a full show, it wasn’t the packed, sold-out-in-seconds show that took place this last Saturday, in support of Fallon’s upcoming solo album Not Bad For New Jersey. With new material and three other albums worth of solo songs to choose from, Fallon and his touring band The Painkillers were as ready to have a great time as the enthusiastic album.
Opening the show was blues guitarist and garage rocker Emily Wolfe (who also proved later to be a skilled drummer, manning the kit in The Painkillers). Her opener “Dead End Luck” revealed her penchant for raw, pained lyrics and no-frills guitar licks. She admitted she was nervous, usually used to being backed by a full band and getting loud, and I could definitely tell that some of her songs like “White Collar Whiskey” and “Lips” would likely have a lot of extra heft and energy with a full band arrangement. But Wolfe proved she could hold an audience captive solo, breaking out a stunning cover of Fuel’s 90’s hit “Shimmer” that I didn’t know I needed, and letting her guitar heroics shine on closer “Holy Roller.”
When they came on stage at 9pm, Fallon and his band wasted no time getting right into new material, opening with his new album’s excellent title track, “Not Bad for New Jersey.” Despite one little hiccup when Fallon knocked over his own microphone during a chorus (which didn’t stop the audience from continuing to sing), it was a triumphant opener to the evening and clear proof that Fallon’s songwriting inspiration has not been diminished in the slightest. he then moved into fan favorite sing-along “Red Lights,” which of course most of the audience sang along to word for word.
Almost a surprise to them, the band then gave a live debut to the unreleased “The Big Sleep” from the new album, which Fallon admitted they decided to add-in earlier that day. It will come as no surprise that the track was great, and I look forward to hearing the album version featuring Donovan Woods (who I just saw play a great show at the Wiltern). As Fallon typically does during live shows, he provided the audience was plenty of comical non-sequiturs, goofed around with Wolfe on the drums and his superb guitarist. Unlike many artists who’s stage banter is clearly practiced down to a T, Fallon’s has always been charmingly spur of the moment; like he doesn’t even know what he’s going to say until it’s out of his mouth. Even when he gets weird, it’s always entertaining and brings levity in between the songs (so many of which are heart-on-your-sleeve and melancholy).
The next song, for which is backing band is named, “Painkiller” was another classic the audience was happy to sing along to, though not as happy as when the band then broke out a cover of the Oasis smash “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Everyone in the room clearly knew that one, and the band looked like they were having a blast playing it.
Following the bubbly (by Fallon standards) “Among Other Foolish Things,” the band played the other two released tracks from the new album; “Better Before” and “Pearls.” While the latter is very much a traditional Fallon ballad, filled with resilience, heartache and pathos, “Better Before” definitely has the marks of producer Butch Walker on it. The song has 80’s hair metal flavors to it that find Fallon and his crew drawing from a different New Jersey legend – Bon Jovi. It still fits in perfectly with Fallon’s style, but has a larger, heavier bombast than his previous solo work. Knowing he has Phil Collen from Def Leppard also on his new album, I’m wondering how much further down the 80’s glam rock/hair metal rabbit hole he and Walker went with this album.
The rest of the evening was Fallon drawing from his solo catalog. Fallon talked up his band’s guitarist, dropping onion metaphors and big promises before they went into “If Your Prayers Don’t Get to Heaven,” which gave said guitarist a chance to drop a sick, slick solo during the bouncy tune. The band then went into three tracks from Fallon’s last solo album, Local Honey. Though on record these were generally stripped down, acoustic tracks, these mellow numbers (“Lonely for You Only,” “Hard Feelings,” and “You Have Stolen My Heart”) of course still sounded great with a full band.
Things got fun again with “Forget Me Not” and its memorable shout-out “Stacy!” Fallon got to show off his soloing skills on “Rosemary,” crediting his guitarist for giving him lessons. “A Wonderful Life” remained joyous to hear live, and Fallon previewed his next cover with a nostalgic rambling about times when things were still pure. Bryan Adam‘s “Heaven” was certainly not on my bingo card of songs Fallon would pull out, but it felt fitting with the 80’s lean of his new album. The set closed with his biggest solo hit, “Smoke,” which left the audience wanting more. Seriously – they didn’t leave, waiting in hopes of an encore. The venue didn’t seem sure if one was coming, as the lights remained dim, but as the band’s roadie Kyle began clearing out setlists and gear, the audience finally accepted the evening was over.
Yet, it wasn’t over for me. Spotting Matt Pinfield, who I’ve had the chance to become friendly with over the last few years seeing him at shows, I went up to chat with him and his friend Chuck Rocha (who I had seen play at Pinfield’s birthday show at the Viper Room a couple years back with his band That Summer). Soon, they were invited back into the green room, and I was able to go along. Despite having gone to The Troubadour for 68 concerts in my lifetime (thanks to ConcertArchives.org for helping me keep track), I had never had a chance to go into its fabled artist area before. As I entered the tiny space, I was given the chance to meet Fallon’s manager and Crush Music co-founder Jonathan Daniel (and incredibly kind man who I enjoyed talking Green Day and Gym Class Heroes with), and the man himself, Brian Fallon. As humble, kind and real as you would expect, it certainly made the night even more special.
For all my fellow Fallon devotees out there, definitely catch him on tour this year, and get excited for the release of Not Bad for New Jersey, out September 10th digitally, and physically on September 11th. Listen to the pre-released tracks here.
The Indy Review 