Seeing as we’ve already effusively reviewed them twice, we figured that it was about time to step back and solicit your thoughts on The Hold Steady and their magical concert abilities. Were you at their Black Cat show Saturday night? Did you swig Budweiser and Jim Beam along with the band members? Were the songs lighter-worthy, or yawn-inducing? Did you find their presence powerfully earnest or overrated?
A quick spin around the blogosphere shows that many of you were blown away by what the band had to offer. Seth D. said, “It was a truly thrilling rock ‘n’ roll show even before the band grabbed audience members and pulled them on stage during their extensive encore. Along with maybe three dozen others, I got wedged in between drums and amps and covered in beer and Craig Finn sweat, which admittedly sounds way grodier than it really is.”
James over at Feenord wrote that, “One of the qualities I look for most in a band in a live performance is a sense that they’re enjoying what they’re doing. The Hold Steady certainly had plenty of that. They were clearly having a blast, and it was infectious.”
And Andy noted that “The focus of this band is completely Craig, who has developed into a charismatic frontman, even though he looks like the Verizon ‘Can You Hear Me Know’ guy with a wicked hangover. In between shout-outs to old girlfriends, he paid tribute to Minnesota Twins slugger and AL MVP Justin Morneau (“my favorite Canadian”) and catcher Joe Mauer (“I spend more time thinking about Joe Mauer than I do thinking about most people I actually know”).”
Anyway, leave your own opinions in the comments. We’re especially excited to hear what you have to say because we have an internal and long-running staff war on the merits of The Hold Steady (DCist Ryan thinks that their “music isn’t bad, but it also isn’t particularly interesting or original. And it’s occasionally pretty tiresome,” while DCist Tom says Finn’s music is “subtle and funny and occasionally devastating.”). So speak up!
Photos courtesy of Flickr user leafblower.
