The Hold Steady

First off, props to PJ for allowing me to contribute to The Yellow Stereo. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the music world, because there is just so much music out there.

On that note, I recently saw The Hold Steady twice. The first show was 3/17 at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH. The Thermals were the opener (and incredible as well). It was a St. Patty’s Day show, so there was a plethera of green beer, and a great sold out crowd of 1,200.

The most recent show was about a month ago 5/13 in Newport, Ky at The Soutgate House. Im writing this review in hopes that those who like the rambling antics of Boys and Girls of America (their most recent album) take the chance to see these cats in concert. The live experience of Craig Finn at the Mic is just amazing, with his constant ramblings, storytellings and constant motion with his arms. Franz Nicolay at the keyboard was great, plus his mustache is top notch. Tad Kubler was shredding away on lead guitar, and going at a bottle of whiskey in between (Did I mention this band LOVES to drink drink drink).

There was a good mix of old and new tracks. They came out with “Stuck Between Stations” and “Chips Ahoy”, followed by a few more tracks off of Boys and Girls. They spent most of the rest of the show mixing up old and new, but mostly old (Set list below). One of the highlights of the show was the crowd friendly “Massive nights” with the big “whoaaaaaa” participation in the chorus. My other personal favorite was the encore of “Killer Parties”. It was a such a great closer for the show, and it describes in what a Hold Steady show is all about… “Killer Party.” These guys a few more dates on their tour, so if you are near, and by near I mean within a few hours, it is totally worth seeing them, particularly in smaller venues where you can crowd the front.

The openers for the show at The Southgate House were The Ratchets, and The Wolverton Brothers. The Ratchets sound almost like a mix between the Transplants and Rancid. The Wolverton Brothers are a local Cincinnati, OH area band, and played a lot of 70′s influenced Psych Rock. Links to all their pages.

The Hold Steady – Myspace
The Wolverton Brothers
The Ratchets – Myspace

Set List:
Stuck Between Stations
Same Kooks
Chips Ahoy!
You Can Make Him Like You
Party Pit
Hornets! Hornets!
Massive Nights
Arms and Hearts
Multitude of Casualties
Stevie Nix
Southtown Girls
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
What A Resurrection Really Feels Like

ENCORE
First Night
Killer Parties

Hold Steady Dates
6.11.07 The Hold Steady Little Rock AR Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack
6.12.07 The Hold Steady Columbia MO Blue Note
6.14.07 The Hold Steady Ashville NC Grey Eagle Music Hall
6.16.07 The Hold Steady Manchester TN Bonnaroo Festival

8.4.07 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
8.5.07 Covington, KY Madison Theater (So stoked to see them again with Ted Leo)
8.6.07 Toronto, ON Opera House
8.7.07 Montreal, PQ La Sala Rosa
8.9.07 Brooklyn, NY Prospect Park Band Shell

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Concert Reviews, Concerts, The Yellow Stereo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.