Tuesday night, after five years as a fan, I finally saw The Hold Steady live, and it was certainly worth the wait. Much as I love their albums, the songs all sound about three times better live- I don't think I've ever been to a more high-energy show, Springsteen excepted.
There's no just no frontman like Craig Finn- he's a late-30s, schlubby Midwestern guy with glasses who dances like a goofy white dude. And indeed, the crowd, including me, was comprised largely of guys who look like Craig Finn. The band scattered stuff from all five albums, but I've gotta say the "Separation Sunday" stuff sounded best, especially "Stevie Nix," "Chicago Seemed So Tired Last Night" and (especially) "How a Resurrection Really Feels," which closed the show.
No, Finn didn't wear a Twins jersey (I did, as did a few other people) or sing "Please Don't Call Them Twinkies," although he did say "I'm a Twins fan, but I think both our teams had a constructive summer," before diving into the song of that name. Here's a podcast interview with Finn on Big League Stew.
And speaking of baseball, a guy in a Phillies jersey rushed the stage, after crowd-surfing, and was tackled and ushered off. Thankfully, it was during a long guitar solo and he was on the opposite end of the stage from Tad Kubler, so the show wasn't disturbed. My guess? The guy was planning to do the same thing at the Phillies game but couldn't get tickets, so did it at the show instead.
It was also great to make my first visit to the Trocadero, where one of the favorite albums of my childhood, Tesla's "Five Man Acoustical Jam," was recorded.
So if you haven't seen the Hold Steady, I highly recommend it. Here's them doing "Stuck Between Stations" on Letterman a couple years ago:
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