Get Out More............................Gig News

THE HOLD STEADY (Wolves Civic, Monday)

18-12-2008

Picture: Judson Walker

American rockers The Hold Steady brought their tales of excess and debauchery to Wolverhampton on Monday night. Steve Beauchampé tries to stay positive… and just about succeeds.

I’ll admit to being unconvinced by Brooklyn-based five-piece The Hold Steady and songwriter Craig Finn in particular.

Over the course of four albums, Finn has regaled us many times over with what is in essence the same tale, mostly written in the first person: Man meets girl (rarely named, usually just referred to as ‘she’) at a party/bar, they drink too much, take lots of drugs, engage in some gross behaviour (particularly the girl), the whole sorry tale told amorally.

Then it’s on to the next song for a repeat performance.

From Lou Reed, Johnny Thunders or Jack Kerouac (Finn is a great admirer of beat poetry) this might seem plausible, but from a man approaching 40 who drinks in moderation, wants to start a family, and looks like he should be attending a management convention in Milwaukee, it can seem like wishful thinking (perhaps even boastful).

And for the band’s followers (not surprisingly they are mostly male, aged 35+), buying into Finn’s world feels like a desperate attempt to cling on to a hedonistic lifestyle that, if it existed at all, disappeared once the reality of jobs, monogamy, mortgages or the mewling of tiny tonsils took over their lives.

That said, the band’s recent album, Stay Positive, was rapturously received by music critics, many of whom had largely ignored their earlier offerings. It’s still a litany of sad, rather pitiable characters, lost in a labyrinth of excess, Finn relentlessly parading their messy, unstructured lives for our delectation. But it’s The Hold Steady’s best album to date, the hooks more immediate, the riffs harder.

And it’s arguable that over the course of the band’s career what Minneapolis-born Finn has effectively been doing is writing On The Road, The Musical, for it’s not just plotlines, but characters (one named Holly in particular) who reappear in his songs, his highly dense, conversational lyrical style delivered with a hint of snarling irritation, yet still affording the music some well-placed punch-the-air moments.

The band’s first ever West Midlands show has been a while coming, the wait accentuated by a postponement in early October following guitarist Tad Kubler’s illness. But as they bound on to the stage at a far from packed Wulfrun Hall, Finn seems hell-bent on making up for lost time.

Bespectacled, slightly balding and a tad stocky, he’s fizzing with enthusiasm, smiling - no, positively beaming! Launching into their opening number Constructive Summer, the talismanic Finn dances around the stage like your over-excited favourite uncle, taking the mic stand with him, hands repeatedly thrown ecstatically in the air; hell, just occasionally he even remembers to play the guitar slung around his waist!

Good job they’ve also got Kublar’s guitar skills then. Both he and bassist Galen Polivka are far from static, drummer Bobby Drake workmanlike (given that you can’t move very far when your playing drums), while stage left, keyboardist Franz Nicolay, with ‘tache and cap (plus weird hand gestures throughout), looks like a refugee from a 1970s Gene Hackman crime movie.

But mostly it’s all eyes on Craig Finn. When he’s not exhorting the audience to jump around, holler and clap along, he’s narrating the tales of his word-rich songs, gesturing descriptions to emphasise the lyrics. The songs come relentlessly, Sequestered In Memphis, One For The Cutters, Massive Nights, You Can Make Him Like You.

At times they appear to blend into one another with barely time in between each to draw breath, and some aren’t played in full, the band resorting on occasions to a form of medley.

Although an accordion (played by Nicolay) and twin-neck, twelve string guitar (Polivka) feature briefly, it’s mostly straight down the line bar rock. Finn’s enthusiasm and charisma are infectious (as enthusiasm and charisma should be), just enough to see me through the less memorable material (Lou Reed may be a useful point of reference, but The Hold Steady’s melodies aren’t as strong).

Live, Finn’s voice seems less annoyed (though his cheery facial expressions probably contribute to the perception) and the songs ratcheted up a notch by the exhilaration of live performance.

Nearly all of the Stay Positive album are showcased, with liberal doses from both the Separation Sunday (Cattle And The Creeping Thing, Don’t Let Me Explode, Stevie Nix) and Boys And Girls In America albums too.

By the encore, which includes Stuck Between Stations from Boys and Girls and the title track from the current album, Finn - still running, jumping and just occasionally standing still - implores his undying love for us, clutching at his heart before theatrically throwing out his arms towards the crowd.

Wishing us: “happy holidays”, Craig Finn and his troupe sign off with the rumbling, rolling guitars and percussion of Slapped Actress. And hey, who needs an avalanche of drink and drugs when performing makes you this high?

Shame they really don’t live the life though…the after show would have been something else!

DID YOU SEE THE HOLD STEADY?  DISCUSS THIS ON THE STIRRER FORUM