All photos by Agatha Donkar |
Brian Fallon, formerly the front man of the Gaslight Anthem, is on a short East Coast tour promoting his upcoming solo debut, Painkillers, out March 11 this year — with a band made up of a Gaslight bandmate, Ian Perkins (with whom Fallon recorded 2011’s Elsie under the name the Horrible Crowes), and a cast of excellent others, they’re playing Horrible Crowes songs, a whole bunch of excellent stuff due out on Painkillers, and a sparkling cover of “Atlantic City” on Saturday at Haw River Ballroom. Sometimes you wonder about solo artists post-their-bands, but this show alleviated any worries I might have had about Brian Fallon — he’s still writing songs to break your heart with their anthemic choruses, and he still knows how to put on a damn good show.