There are those times in which we, as people, experience ultimate happiness. They are all-around fantastic moments that put such a smile to our faces, we generally cherish them for some time, as they tend to be rare in occurrence.
Craig Finn, on the other hand, seems to have those kinds of moments every second of his life. And that’s a big part of the reason I’ve become such a fan of the music he helps create as the lead singer for The Hold Steady. It’s true that I fought their sound for a long time, not wanting to like them because their recordings seemed too simple, but thanks to an eye-opening Sasquatch! set I saw of theirs in May, I’ve come to learn this is a band you cannot just skim over with your ears. Brilliant lyrics are backed by fierce rock ‘n’ roll instrumentation of the original kind, and it combines to create a listening experience that can’t be denied.
Touring with the four-piece group Jaill, The Hold Steady made a stop at Crystal Ballroom to promote their 2010 release Heaven Is Whenever. It seems they made the right decision in choosing this Milwaukee, WI-based group to front them on this tour, as Jaill was a cheery group that plays fun, yet slightly boring music. Their sound truly relies on the breakneck-speed drumming done by Austin Detmer and bass by Andrew Harris; without the styling those two create, the band fails to be any different from any other group of musicians. Detmer is particularly phenomenal at what he does; I even heard a nearby concert-goer tell her friend that he strongly reminded her of Animal, from The Muppets. I’m really hoping she meant that in a good way, because the drum solo he put on, only 3 songs into the set, was wildly appropriate.
The fashion in which vocalist/guitarist Vincent Kircher sang sounded so much like he was drunkenly mocking the crowd with, but after time, it started to feel right, and it somehow managed to meld into the rest of the band’s groove. Kircher was a legitimately funny dude, even despite his terrible attempt to tell a joke that had him mis-pronouncing Oregon. He and the rest of Jaill could’ve easily passed for a 50s rock band, plucked from today and sent back in time. This likely leaves you thinking of Marty McFly, of course, but it’s interesting that McFly was much more rockin’ than these guys were. A couple of their songs, "Baby I" and "Demon," were true gems, but the rest of their set just fell flat and never gave me a reason to get too interested in the band.
But then it was The Hold Steady’s turn, and they made the wait more than worth it. I got eager as hell, between sets, when a covered item on the stage was revealed to be a gong. A gong?! For a group like The Hold Steady?! The excitement was almost too much. And when the lights dimmed, an ominous brand of Spaghetti Western-type music came filtering through the speakers, signaling that shit was literally about to go down.
Finn came on stage smiling, of course, and his joyful presence was instantly infectious. The group launched into a super fast-paced set, one that saw minimal breaks between songs. It actually felt necessary, because The Hold Steady library is packed with songs that melodically tell a story, and everything the band wants to say can be heard in their tunes. With that in mind, Finn didn’t need to tell tales in between songs, because he already was.
His intense interaction with the crowd was priceless, as he constantly pointed to the fans while singing and would mouth the lyrics he had just sung after nearly every line. Hits from their new release like "Hurricane J" and "The Sweet Part of the City" got strong reaction from the crowd, particularly with the latter’s lyrics of “We like to play for you.” The ballad "We Can Get Together" was fantastic in that was one of the band’s very few slow-beat tunes, and it saw the couple behind me lovingly waltzing amongst the packed crowd.
"Hornets! Hornets!" proved itself an immediate favorite of mine, with its roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll groove and lyrics that mention an old roommate that was ‘some hoodrat chick.’ Dueling guitars evolved into three, featuring Finn, Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge, and the end of this amazing set highlight came with the gentlemen high-fiving each other. Which was even more awesome in that it showed the camaraderie this group holds.
Sadly, the gong that entranced me throughout the majority of the show didn’t even get whacked ‘til the last song of the night, "A Slight Discomfort." It was a fitting way to wrap up this terrific performance by The Hold Steady, however, and the smile it brought to Finn’s face made his constant happiness as endearing as ever. Here’s hoping that energy of his never fades away, and that the music the band creates never goes without it.
