[Our fearless team, Nicci Boots and Ian McNeil spent three days listening to an obscene amount of fantastic music above the stunning Columbia River Gorge in George, Washington. Check out all our coverage here, over 30 sets from a who's who list of indie music.]
Craig Finn acts as if he’s been injected with a nearly lethal dose of happy. And I absolutely love him for that. From the second the Hold Steady took the stage on Saturday night, it was clear Finn wanted to share his exuberance with everyone in attendance, and the crowd was more than grateful for it. Grinning wildly and thrusting his arms to the skies multiple times, Finn led the way for a fantastic set by the band. They’re just such a good time rock ‘n’ roll band, with music not overly raucous and dirty or brimming with a pompous kind of cool. Rather, their sound is pure, but not too clean, and inspires you to pound beers like never before. Truly, there are very few bands out there that can concoct what The Hold Steady are able to do, and that gives me a lot of respect for them.