So it turns out that American lives don't just have second acts, but third ones as well. If The Gaslight Anthem's first three albums chartered their ascendancy, the two that followed soundtracked the years where they flirted with establishing themselves as an arena rock band. The title of their fifth studio effort, Get Hurt, proved unfortunately prophetic. The critical bashing it received seemed to combine with internal frictions to largely put them on hiatus from 2015 until now, when last year's History Books signalled a full return to action.
Live, Gaslight's third era finds them getting back into the groove with a three-night run at London's Roundhouse, a sure sign that their audience hasn't deserted them. Their classic material is still, well, classic, while the newer tunes are, to misquote a lyric, "pretty good songs, baby, you know the rest."
