Painkillers: Brian Fallon’s Heartbreak Medicine
Words by Liz Wyatt
Photos by Steve Satzberg
Deep inside DC’s Black Cat, a music venue founded by former Gray Matter drummer Dante Ferrando and investors including Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, the front of the stage was filling with bald, bearded, well-heeled, well-mannered, and well-to-do DC men clad in plaid flannel, smelling of leather and nontoxic manly musk. American freedom rests in that manly musk.
The black-and-white checkered floor was dotted with fishnet stockings, Vans sneakers, and T-shirts from the band Brian Fallon fronted before the Painkillers, the Gaslight Anthem.
To lead this musical mob on Oct. 11, opener Tim Barry sang about protecting his sister from an abusive fella, catching a felony, and breathing his last free breath as he put the varmint to rest. A Virginia native, Barry brought a real David Allan Coe feel to this warm, wet, early fall night, asking us, “How’s it going out there?” We replied, “Fucking fine!”
His heartfelt lyrics about loneliness made us feel like a village of lonely hearts, all lonely together. His songs reminded us that if you never hurt, you never feel a thing.
Barry said he felt like the luckiest person in the world, adding, “And I hope you do too!”
We do, Tim, because we got to be down-home rowdy together with you!
After a stage change, Brian Fallon and the Painkillers emerged, playing mostly songs from his latest album, Not Bad for New Jersey, released in early September.
A fan sitting next to me said all his songs are about how the women who came after “the one” were just painkillers. Ouch!
Heartaches awaited, starting with “21 Days,” a song about quitting nicotine and the hope that 21 days might be enough to break a habit — or stop missing someone. I’ve heard it can be done.
Watch the official music video for “21 Days” by Brian Fallon on YouTube:
“Smoke” came next, capturing the disorienting feeling of waking up in someone else’s skin (so it’s not just me) and trying to hold on to someone who has disappeared like smoke. Ouch!
Fallon followed with “You Have Stolen My Heart,” painting a vivid picture of love and the sensation of time slowing as someone moves across the dance floor. He sure can paint a picture of love.
I moved to the back of the venue and found a spot by the new rear bar, where families watched happy, bouncing kids dance to “Steve McQueen.” They sang along, arms waving, in the intimate venue.
“Red Lights,” with its image of a man stopping to tell someone he loves her, and “Hard Feelings,” with its old-fashioned romanticism and baby-blue Mercedes, slowed things down.
Then came “Better Before” and “Rosemary,” the latter evoking the loneliness of sleeping beside empty sheets.
The many heartaches Fallon has endured seemed written all over his tattoos, some of which he’s since covered up. He’s matured well beyond his punk-rock days of getting blackout drunk, now turning a sober eye toward the world.
Brian Fallon and the Painkillers are an underappreciated East Coast gem, a band that understands what it means to love and lose love, to cry and heal, and to minister to the heartache in all of us.
Can’t wait to catch that slow, baby-blue Mercedes next time around!
Here are some photos of Brian Fallon and the Painkillers performing live at Black Cat on Oct. 11, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here are some photos of Tim Barry performing live at Black Cat on Oct. 11, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
