folkfixation

The Hold Steady live aren’t what you’d expect. That is not to say that they are disappointing. Their performance Thursday night was an exuberant celebration of rock, the crowd writhed with delight at every song. But Craig Finn, frontman of the Hold steady, cuts quite a bizarre figure. He looks and dresses like a humanities professor I had in college, and his mannerisms remind me of nothing so much as Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Thinning hair, glasses, khakis and a polo shirt cover a frame that refuses to be still. When not playing his guitar, Finn waves, wobbles his arms, and dances, mouthing words at the audience even when not singing. This may make him seem a bizarre spectacle, not an electrifying god of rock, but some how Finn manages to be exactly that. His delivery, full of saliva and looking like a mad mix of scat and rap is where his true power lies. His words electrify the crowd, galvanize the diverse mix of hipsters, oldsters, and frat boys in backward hats into a unified scene, lost in the music.

The set opened with the lead track from the new album Stay Positive, and “Constructive Summer” made a powerful statement as both an opener to the evening and the Hold Steady’s latest tour, which this show kicked off. Despite the show’s proximity to the release of the new record (only two days after) most of the crowd seemed to know the new material, and shouted along almost as loud with the older cuts sprinkled through out the new-material heavy set. The most electrifying moment of the evening occurred when the band came out for the encore. Instead of of the expected audience-favorite “Stuck Between Stations” which had not been played yet, Finn started playing “Sweet Payne,” a track from the band’s debut, Almost Killed Me. He was met with audible disappointment from the crowd as he announced that he was trying to keep some variety in his setlists for the tour, and was mixing it up with some older material. After finishing the song though, the band unfurled the opening chords of “stuck Between Stations” and the crowd came more alive for that song than they had been all night (quite the feat) reveling in the powerful summer anthem and basking in the band’s energy.

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