I was a tad nervous about seeing The Hold Steady live for the first time. I tend to feel like an outsider at most concerts I attend. I'm super self-conscious about not knowing everything in an artist's discography. I'm constantly in fear that a hardcore fan of the band will find out that I don't know every song and will react like Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
I've listened to all of The Hold Steady's albums, but not with as much depth and repetition as I have with the oeuvre of The Replacements or Big Star.
I've found that even when I'm in the dark on most of an artist's musical output, I can still be mesmerized by a fantastic set. There were some moments during The Hold Steady show where waves of goosebumps formed on my arms and the the hair on the back of my neck stood up at attention like soldiers during reveille, because what I was hearing was so fantastic.
Craig Finn is an exceptional frontman, despite what his resemblance to a 5th grade science teacher might lead you to believe. But then again, I have a soft spot for slightly dorky looking rock musicians in black frame glasses, something my collection of Elvis Costello records will attest to. Finn cuts an animated figure on stage, his wild gesticulations and raised eyebrows acting as Greek chorus for the goings on. His overwhelming jubilance really made it seem like he had the greatest job in the world. The rest of the band seemed like the type of guys you might find in your neighborhood; very down to earth and approachable but capable of playing music that can tear the roof off the local watering hole.
As a performer Finn's stage presence was reminiscent of Elvis Costello, who is also in the habit of using physicality to punctuate his lyrical asides, as if furiously pounding away at his soft touch typewriter, hitting the keys with full force, in a desperate attempt to get out the right words.
The highlight of the set was "Stuck Between Stations" a song that features one of my favorite guitar riffs. It's the type of big, brash and bold riff that would make Bob Stinson nod in approval. It's a massive, powerful riff on par with Neil Young's "Powderfinger." Both songs feature what I have dubbed a world-beater riff. It's the type of rift that can raise mountains or crumble them to the sea, they're filled with that much raw power.
There's so much raw emotion and feeling in it, it's almost too much to listen to, like looking directly at the sun. The feeling I get during those songs is nearly indescribable. When I hear those songs, I think of Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita during the testing of the first atom bomb, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
It's such a thrilling moment that makes concert going a worthy enterprise. That feeling, however intangible and fleeting, is worth any price.
-Andrew Crowley
