Recording: The Hold Steady

Artist: The Hold Steady

Song: Rock Problems

Recorded at The Phoenix, July 16, 2010.

The Hold Steady - Rock Problems

My notes for this set can be found here.

Gig: The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady

The Phoenix. Friday, July 16, 2010.

An unusual sort of gig for me, I guess. The fact that it was the first time going to The Phoenix all year would be a sign that it was a larger-than-usual show. In fact, I wasn't planning on going at all when the show was first announced at the Kool Haus, so maybe it felt like the downsizing to a room that's still pretty big by my standards was meeting me halfway. And I guess I wanted to give the band a bit of a chance to see if the live versions could redeem some songs that came across as kinda dull on this year's Heaven is Whenever, which felt uninspired compared to what they've done in the past. Oh, and my dad, the Texas troubadour, was passing through town and said he'd be willing to go. He's a rock'n'roller and likes to hear about shows I go to and so on, although this night wasn't a great representation of the sort of gig I'm usually at. Anyways, we headed down and met J. for a drink and made our way over to the show.

We got there in time to catch just the end of an opening set by The Whigs. The only impression I really gathered was that they were very loud, otherwise, I reserve any comment. Once the stage was cleared, there was a welcome to the show from a warmly-welcomed Matt Bonner¹, who'd put this show together as a benefit for Boys' and Girls' Clubs. There was a rambunctious crowd on hand, and a pretty full house. We hung back by the soundboard instead of getting right up in the thick of things.

Taking the stage and promising a Friday night good time, The Hold Steady kicked into "The Sweet Part of the City", the leadoff to the new one. It's not one of their stronger tunes, but served as a good conceptual starting point, the lyrics ending, "we were bored so we started a band / we'd like to play for you." It's worth noting that no one told frontman Craig Finn that the new material isn't as good as the old stuff, and he was as joyful as ever and fully inhabiting those songs, throwing himself into "Rock Problems", also from the new album, and one of the tunes on it that is wholly successful. But, maybe hedging their bets a little, they didn't do too much new stuff at a burst, throwing a bone to the crowd with the glorious "Constructive Summer" from 2008's Stay Positive.²

Following the departure of keyboard player Franz Nicolay, that part of the band's sound has been de-emphasized somewhat, less there on the new songs, and a bit down in the mix generally. Keybs and extra guit were played by semi-anonymous guys flanking the stage. In a departure from Nicolay's onstage gusto, his replacement played sitting down, not drawing attention to himself.

In between the new material, the band dug into the catalogue for Separation Sunday's "Multitude of Casualties", and made an unexpected reach all the way back to 2004's Almost Killed Me for "Barfruit Blues", which got a more enthusiastic response than stuff like the quieter "Cheyenne Sunrise", which was largely taken by the crowd as a chance to chat. May dad — who I'd forgotten to grab some earplugs for — went to wander a bit to the back of the room.

But I'll say this for the band: they know how to keep a show moving. It was pretty much song after song without respite, with no gaps to tune or other momentum-sappers. There weren't too many reinventions or rearrangements, either. The songs were generally stripped pretty lean — there were more under three minutes than over five. One exception was a lengthy, somewhat wanky middle to "Your Little Hoodrat Friend", a Big Rock gesture that guitarist Tad Kubler trumped by pulling out the double-necked guitar for the closing pair of "Massive Nights" and "A Slight Discomfort". The latter is the last one from the new album, making for a conceptually smart parallel to the start, though underwhelmed by the fact that I'm not particularly crazy about either one.

And then, after nineteen songs, the band returned for three more in the encore, pushing the show past the ninety-minute mark. It all ended with "Slapped Actress", giving a chance for some big-room singalong whoah-oh action, which closed things on a warm note. Overall, it was an okay show — certainly not the most excited I've been to see them. Though that might say as much about my own slowly-morphing tastes — a big room and a big rock sound being less on my agenda these days. But for the Friday night crowd, it seemed just fine, and even my dad nodded his head in approval — rock'n'roll still means well, I guess.

Listen to a song from this set here.

---

¹ A bench player for the Raptors from 2004-2006, Bonner became a crowd favourite for exhibiting a blue-collar work ethic — the sort of decent-but-likable player that always seems to become a folk hero on Toronto's middling professional sports teams. One of the few NBA players that really embraced playing in Canada, Bonner still makes his off-season home in Toronto.

² When I'd first played this song — written by Finn about the joy and boredom and freedom of growing up in Minneapolis in the '80's — to my dad, he said it sounded exactly like his own teenage years twenty years before that.

Recording: The Hold Steady

Artist: The Hold Steady

Song: Charlemagne in Sweatpants

Recorded at Lee's Palace, September 27, 2009.

The Hold Steady - Charlemagne in Sweatpants

My notes for this show can be found here.

Recording: The Hold Steady

Artist: The Hold Steady

Song: We Can Get Together

Recorded at Lee's Palace, September 27, 2009.

The Hold Steady - We Can Get Together

Afterthought: I had this previously listed as "Heaven is Whenever", which was the assumed title before it was formalized on the album — it was even introduced as such at the time.

My notes for this show can be found here.

Gig: The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady / Still Life Still

Lee's Palace. Sunday, September 27, 2009.

Making good time over to Lee's, had a few minutes to check out the merch table, grab a drink and rest for a moment, looking over the early-arriving types grabbing seated spots along the walls. Looked like a bit of an older crowd, folks who didn't come out to as many shows as they used to, but were making an exception for The Hold Steady. Once J. — the one who's like the drums on "Lust for Life" — made an appearance, we grabbed some spots in the middle of the dance floor, figuring it'd be harder to claim 'em later on.

Openers on the night were Still Life Still, not exactly an intuitive stylistic match, so perhaps more a sign they know people who know people in order to get them some primo exposure like this. Say what you will about the lads, they are certainly working it hard — this was the fourth time I'd seen them this year, and that was with me hardly going out of my way to do so. Their total number of local gigs over the past year must be pretty impressive. None of the previous shows had totally won me over, though I'd found their album to be okay. My ultimate conclusion is that I find them to be kinda enjoyable for three or four songs, then their lack of variety leads to diminishing returns.

On this night, it certainly felt like the band was cramming in as many songs as possible into their set, rather than letting some of the songs breathe and stretch out some. They played the entirety of their Girls Come Too album, though substituting the non-album cut "Keep Your Gun" — which isn't working a radically different sound — for "Wild Bees". The mid-tempo-y¹ "Kid" and "Planets" might have worked the best, the latter with a crowd sing along for "it's a family of wolves out there, they bury their young". It seems remarkable that despite the fact that this was a very sold out show for The Hold Steady that SLS still had a large, vocal coterie of fans right up front. After the set, I looked over at J. to gauge his reaction, and he sorta shrugged and shook his head — not a strong endorsement. The overall crowd reaction was pretty similar — warm approval from those up front, not particularly overwhelming from the HS crowd they were trying to win over.

Taking the stage to the strains of The Eagles' "In The City", one could immediately see and hear who the crowd were there for. Singer/guitarist Craig Finn was immediately handed a hand-made sign reading "THERE IS SO MUCH JOY IN WHAT WE DO" — a frequent pronouncement from the stage — that was received with a smile. That's a line that encapsulates The Hold Steady pretty well: you could come to love them either because of their classic rock riffs or their literate lyrics, but when it all comes together live, it's always an explosion of joyous energy. As always, Finn was an irresistible focal point, spitting out his sung/spoken words, and always having more to say than there are lyrics in the songs, his lips moving to a never-ending off-mic stream of consciousness between lines.²

The show's very existence was an unexpected delight. I got into THS one tour too late to see them in a club, and never thought I'd have a shot at seeing them in such intimate quarters. This cross-Canada jaunt seemed to be "one for the fans", and the band, no longer really touring behind '08's Stay Positive was choosing freely from all of their albums. We got a half-dozen from '05's Separation Sunday and a trio from Almost Killed Me (2004), not to mention a handful of new tracks, including the Hüsker Dü-referencing "Heaven is Whenever". Nice to hear some stuff that isn't normally pulled out, including an extended "bar band" version of "Charlemagne in Sweatpants" climaxing with a lead guitar face-off between Finn and Tad Kubler³

I suppose I don't have a lot more objective stuff to say — this was simply a rather fantastic show. A pretty good crowd, too, well into it and with plenty hoots of joy to be heard. The band played seventy-five minutes plus a four-song encore, starting with another new one and ending with "How a Resurrection Really Feels", with the penultimate track a run through "Most People Are DJs", including an extended mid-song get-those-hands-clapping monologue talking about how the experience of listening to music at home or at a party or wherever isn't like being at a show, crowded in among people. "This is rock and roll!" shouted Finn. Precisely.

Listen to a track from this set here. Aw hell, one's just not enough. Let's go with another one here, too.

---

¹ Well, everything the band does is kinda kid-tempo-y. The main rhythmic difference, I guess, is how busy drummer Aaron Romaniuk gets on the high-hats.

² I've always imagined that Finn's additional unheard interjections would add up to a sort of Talmudic commentary on his own lyrics.

³ Or, "My good friend, Mr. Brett Favre", as Finn called him. Indeed, after a tour-cancelling bout of pancreatitis last year, Kubler is looking hale and hearty and leaner than previously.