how'm i sp'osed to know that you're high if you won't let me touch you?
first things first - the hold steady are a mother eff'n ROCK band.
i go to alot of rock shows (duh) - i rock out. most of the bands i see rock out. i have never seen a band rock out with as much joy and enthusiasm and pure ROCK as the hold steady.
the soundtrack to my life lately has been two things: boys & girls in america (the hold steady) and knives don't have your back (emily haines & the soft skeleton). i know, completely opposite sides of the rock spectrum. however, charmingly appropriate to demonstrate my schizo taste in music. i won't say that the hold steady are doing anything groundbreaking or revolutionary - as many have said "they're a bar band for people that don't like bar bands". hell, they're a bar band for people who actually LIKE bar bands too, if last night's crowd is any indication. bring on the springsteen comparisons - who the eff cares? good music is good music. great writing is great writing. if it sounds good to me, then i like it. if i can't get it out of my head for three weeks straight, then they must be doing something right.
that said, i was psyched for last night's show. i had never seen them before and had heard nothing awesome things about their live show. i was not disappointed. as the five dudes took the stage i was front and left of center (my customary spot at the music hall). we remarked on how normal they looked. dorky even. the bass player looks like my friend dan who also plays bass (coincidence?). craig finn looks like a local news reporter (oddly enough that's exactly what he plays in the video for 'chips ahoy'). he is stoked on the music. he makes the audience stoked on the music. he shuffles about all over the stage, leaning into the crowd, mouthing unintelligble sentences between verses and waving his arms wildly, chugging beers, and rocking out. he is the life of the party, he is the best friend you had in college that drank until 5:00 am but whom could carry on a deep, life-changing conversation with you while he did it.
there were alot of dudes at this show. and when i say dudes i mean duuuudes....bros. boys out on the town, bro'ing out, leaving their girlfriends or wives at home and getting wasted and moshing to rock music. yes, moshing. and crowd surfing! things i would normally have rallied against, but strangely forgave. i know, it's weird for me too. but no one landed on top of me, ran into me, or even so much as stepped on my foot - it was as if i was esconced in an impenetrable forcefield of awesomeness and stay-the-hell-away-from-me. tad kubler, the guitarist, summed it up nicely when he said that san francisco crowds are the most polite, misbehaving crowds in the world. okay, so maybe that's not verbatim, but it was the idea! i think. heh.
the only thing that annoyed me the whole time was this girl in her white hat and her boyfriend or dude or whatever he was to her. she pushed her way up and in front of me during the set, which i didn't really mind b/c i had plenty of room and she was shorter than i was (?!?), but then she brought her drunken bf up with her. this is NOT COOL girls. we are halfway into the set, if you didn't get up front during the first three songs - you lose. learn the show ho etiquette! also, her bf was very, very drunkle, annoying, and he smelled of patchouli. ewwwww. he kept swaying into me, so i had to throw some tiny elbows. he didn't seem to get it though, but thankfully swayed his way on over to annoy someone else with his patchouli stink. hee.
in summation, the hold steady just kick ass. period. if you haven't seen them, i implore you to check them out in your lifetime. that is, if you like to rock. and i know you do. while lyrically their music is quite dark and kind of eff'd up, musically it like the sound that dogs probably hear when they're sticking their heads out the window of a car driving down a country road on a sunday afternoon. you know, cause they always seem so goddamn happy, right? that's how this music makes you feel. it's like a big, stupid grin that you can't wipe off your face. laying in the grass on a sunny day with nothing to do. running down the street barefoot in the rain (but wearing an ac/dc or slayer tee shirt because you are are still a badass and not cheesy & sappy at all)...
maybe when i said i wasn't high earlier (see: changing my last name to mcleod) i was wrong - i think i might still be high from last night's show...and i mean on the MUSIC, kiddos. so when i start making you call me "ali mcleod", just blame the hold steady and rock 'n roll, okay?
i go to alot of rock shows (duh) - i rock out. most of the bands i see rock out. i have never seen a band rock out with as much joy and enthusiasm and pure ROCK as the hold steady.
the soundtrack to my life lately has been two things: boys & girls in america (the hold steady) and knives don't have your back (emily haines & the soft skeleton). i know, completely opposite sides of the rock spectrum. however, charmingly appropriate to demonstrate my schizo taste in music. i won't say that the hold steady are doing anything groundbreaking or revolutionary - as many have said "they're a bar band for people that don't like bar bands". hell, they're a bar band for people who actually LIKE bar bands too, if last night's crowd is any indication. bring on the springsteen comparisons - who the eff cares? good music is good music. great writing is great writing. if it sounds good to me, then i like it. if i can't get it out of my head for three weeks straight, then they must be doing something right.
that said, i was psyched for last night's show. i had never seen them before and had heard nothing awesome things about their live show. i was not disappointed. as the five dudes took the stage i was front and left of center (my customary spot at the music hall). we remarked on how normal they looked. dorky even. the bass player looks like my friend dan who also plays bass (coincidence?). craig finn looks like a local news reporter (oddly enough that's exactly what he plays in the video for 'chips ahoy'). he is stoked on the music. he makes the audience stoked on the music. he shuffles about all over the stage, leaning into the crowd, mouthing unintelligble sentences between verses and waving his arms wildly, chugging beers, and rocking out. he is the life of the party, he is the best friend you had in college that drank until 5:00 am but whom could carry on a deep, life-changing conversation with you while he did it.
there were alot of dudes at this show. and when i say dudes i mean duuuudes....bros. boys out on the town, bro'ing out, leaving their girlfriends or wives at home and getting wasted and moshing to rock music. yes, moshing. and crowd surfing! things i would normally have rallied against, but strangely forgave. i know, it's weird for me too. but no one landed on top of me, ran into me, or even so much as stepped on my foot - it was as if i was esconced in an impenetrable forcefield of awesomeness and stay-the-hell-away-from-me. tad kubler, the guitarist, summed it up nicely when he said that san francisco crowds are the most polite, misbehaving crowds in the world. okay, so maybe that's not verbatim, but it was the idea! i think. heh.
the only thing that annoyed me the whole time was this girl in her white hat and her boyfriend or dude or whatever he was to her. she pushed her way up and in front of me during the set, which i didn't really mind b/c i had plenty of room and she was shorter than i was (?!?), but then she brought her drunken bf up with her. this is NOT COOL girls. we are halfway into the set, if you didn't get up front during the first three songs - you lose. learn the show ho etiquette! also, her bf was very, very drunkle, annoying, and he smelled of patchouli. ewwwww. he kept swaying into me, so i had to throw some tiny elbows. he didn't seem to get it though, but thankfully swayed his way on over to annoy someone else with his patchouli stink. hee.
in summation, the hold steady just kick ass. period. if you haven't seen them, i implore you to check them out in your lifetime. that is, if you like to rock. and i know you do. while lyrically their music is quite dark and kind of eff'd up, musically it like the sound that dogs probably hear when they're sticking their heads out the window of a car driving down a country road on a sunday afternoon. you know, cause they always seem so goddamn happy, right? that's how this music makes you feel. it's like a big, stupid grin that you can't wipe off your face. laying in the grass on a sunny day with nothing to do. running down the street barefoot in the rain (but wearing an ac/dc or slayer tee shirt because you are are still a badass and not cheesy & sappy at all)...
maybe when i said i wasn't high earlier (see: changing my last name to mcleod) i was wrong - i think i might still be high from last night's show...and i mean on the MUSIC, kiddos. so when i start making you call me "ali mcleod", just blame the hold steady and rock 'n roll, okay?
posted by ali. at 7:29 PM
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