The Gaslight Anthem at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (2009/File Photo)
The rain is putting me in an East Coast mood today, so here are two bands from New Jersey.
Up first is The Gaslight Anthem, which is what you get if the Bouncing Souls and Bruce Springsteen had a love child.
I interviewed singer Brian Fallon and bassist Alex Levine at Coachella a few years back and they were absolutely delightful. I’ve been patiently waiting for them to make a return to the festival. Fingers crossed for 2013!
“The ’59 Sound” is my favorite album by the band, but the 2012 release “Handwritten” is one of my favorite albums of the year. Here’s “The Backseat,” off “The ’59 Sound.”
Also from Jersey, and in a completely different style, is Bon Jovi. The first album I ever bought for myself was “Slippery When Wet.” It was so epic and I had so many Bon Jovi posters on the wall that my cousins STILL talk about it.
My favorite Jovi song off that record isn’t one “Livin’ on a Prayer” or “You Give Love a Bad Name” or “Wanted Dead or Alive,” either. It’s “Raise Your Hands,” which makes me happy when the band plays it live.
One of my favorite days on this job was when I got to be on a conference call with Tico Torres, Richie Sambora and David Bryan. Now I just need to interview Jon Bon Jovi and we can cross that one off the bucket list.
It’s funny because back then, my mom was never a Bon jovi fan, but now I’ve seen them with her three times. I will also totally admit to playing the air keyboard to “Bad Medicine” off “New Jersey,” an album that I own on vinyl, cassette (for my old walkman back then) and CD. It’s also on my iPod.