When Craig Finn, de facto leader of Brooklyn-based act The Hold Steady, took the stage on Wednesday night, it was as if a preacher had taken to a pulpit. The sold-out crowd hung on every word of the balding frontman’s lyrics on drinking, sex, and religion, and most of the time added their own voices to the chorus.
Pacing back and forth to soak in the adulation, The Hold Steady began with Separation Sunday opener “Hornets! Hornets!” which was a pretty good way to start off the night. Going into the concert, I was only familiar with the group’s latest two albums, Boys and Girls of America and Stay Positive, but with The Hold Steady, there are no major changes in their sound, only more sing-a-longs for your next game of beer pong. The song began with Finn bellowing “Going to have to go, with whoever’s going to get me the highest,” before Tad Kubler’s guitar came in like a steam-train. The crowd was just as amped as the band; even with a surprisingly diverse age range at the show (do people with gray hair read Pitchfork now?), everyone was ready to enjoy some of the last real rock ‘n’ roll in the country.
When the first chord of “Chips Ahoy” was struck, my excitement went off the charts. I can’t remember the last time I’ve smiled that much at a concert. I was excited because I knew this song had the kind of chorus that’s fun to sing along with even when you’re walking alone to class, so when you get a large crowd together, most of which are trashed (damn you, birth certificate), you know it’s going to be awesome. When Finn ended the verse about his clairvoyant girlfriend picking the right horse in the race, and he went into the chorus of “wo-ah-oh-ee-ah-oh-ee-oh,” I jumped about as high as my Dutch / Italian heritage allowed. Luckily everyone else joined in or else I would have looked like a douchebag.
Throughout the night, Finn would pace back and forth between lines in the lyrics and mouth the words again to add emphasis to the gospel he spat. This did not come off as pompous, or overblown, but more like he was enjoying the songs as much as the crowd. He loved his music, even though by now he’s played it hundreds of times, and was genuinely surprised that it was getting this reaction.
Nothing The Hold Steady played that night exemplified this more than the three song trifecta, “Sequestered in Memphis,” “Constructive Summer,” and “One For The Cutters.” These are my favorite The Hold Steady songs for good reason, as they all show another facet of the band. “Sequestered in Memphis” would be playing daily on rock radio, if rock radio would play shit other than Nickelback and Three Days Grace, but alas, it is stepped over by the mainstream and left to the independent shows like those on WRUB. Keyboardist Franz Nicolay (who bears an uncanny resemblance to what I imagine a real-life Mario to look like) starts it off with joyful piano. Finn cannot be described as a singer, and it shows on songs like “Sequestered.” The focus is placed on his words, and most of all, the story he tells. The song is based around a one-night stand in Tennessee that occurs in the bathroom of a bar. Finn tells words of truth in the chorus: “In bar light she looked alright / In daylight she looked desperate / That’s alright I was desperate too / I’m getting pretty sick of this interview.” Finn “sang” this with the help of the crowd. The best sing-along comes with “Constructive Summer,” when Finn muttered “Summer grant us all the power / To drink on top of water towers.” Who doesn’t want to do this? Towards the end of the song, when Finn tells us to raise a toast to “St. Joe Strummer,” better known as lead singer of The Clash, a staggering amount of people raised their beer into the air, including imaginary drinks (me).
Last in the trio of songs was “One For the Cutters,” arguably the best song in The Hold Steady’s repertoire. The story is about a girl who goes off to college and does anything that you could think of to give her father a heart attack. Falling in love with a guy who is on the run from the law, having sex against dumpsters behind bars, and even sniffing crystal meth. Jeez, that’s quite the year. Accompanied by a rollicking keyboard, Finn gives extra resonance to nonsense like “When one townie falls in the forest does anyone notice?” and “When there weren’t any parties she’d party with townies.” The song culminates in the girl’s realization, “She’s sick of the questions / Sick of the concept / Of justice and fairness / Who the hell cares who gets caught in the middle, she smokes and she ponders this riddle.” Then the menacing, honky-tonk guitar picks up, taking the song to new heights.
The night continued at a breakneck pace. Past favorites like “Massive Nights,” “Status,” and “Party Pit” pleased the full-capacity crowd. However when Finn sang, “Southtown girls won’t blow you away / But you’ll know that they’ll stay,” the crowd found another level. Everyone uttered the words along with Finn, giving extra love to “But you’ll know that they’ll stay” to offset the seeming superficiality of the first line. What’s better than one raucous jam is two raucous jams. Next up was album namesake, “Stay Positive,” which gives The Hold Steady manifesto “Cuz the kids at the shows / They’ll have kids of their own / And the sing-along songs will be our scriptures.” Finn couldn’t be more right.
When I saw that The Hold Steady were coming to Buffalo months ago, I thought it was too far away to think about, but I knew it would be a great time. Once April 1 came, and I waited in the first line I’ve ever been in at the Tralf, I knew the night would be special. The band surely delivered, and it will continue to deliver across America. All you have to do to take part in this party is buy your ticket.
