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The Hold Steady have been being called the best bar-room band in America ever since their debut album, Almost Killed Me, was released in 2003. Their past two albums have increased their exposure, and this tour saw them play their largest UK shows yet.
Their latest, Stay Positive, captured an optimism which is reflected in their live show. Acclaimed by NME as a bright new band last year, their arrival on stage is not that of the ‘sniffling indie kids’ mentioned in their song Positive Jam; rather, five men knocking on the door of middle age bound onto the stage, with at least two receding hairlines, and more paunches on show. Frontman Craig Finn beams with enthusiasm, proudly moving around the stage and as close to the crowd as the venue allows.
From opening pair Constructive Summer and Sequestered In Memphis, the band’s strengths shine forth; above a rampant rhythm section, Tad Kubler’s simple but powerful lead guitar riffs combine with Franz Nikolay’s fills on keyboards and accordion. The well-structured accompaniment allows Finn the freedom to deliver (almost in speech rhythms) his perceptive lyrics, which spin stories of the druggy Minnesotan adolescence most of the band enjoyed.
For three albums, Finn’s narratives followed the same teenage group of druggy friends; the likes of Gideon, Holly and Charlemagne, the semi-fictional characters whose tales are always recounted with an air of reminiscence. It is a similar group of friends, a few years older, which populates Stay Positive. The themes of intoxicants and relationships resonate through all albums, and this lends itself well to the pick and mix of older and newer songs in the live set. Similarly themed prom-night anthems 'Massive Nights' and 'You Gotta Dance' ('With Who You Came To The Dance With') are actually joined together.
Of the newest songs, album highlights 'One For The Cutters' and 'Joke About Jamaica' are welcome additions, filmic in their subtler styles, whereas 'Stay Positive' and 'Slapped Actress' provide the Hold Steady’s trademark singalong choruses. As the latter ends, the crowd is left singing the vocals, whilst the band leaves the stage.
The encore is exceptional, beginning with their first ever song, 'Positive Jam'. Crowd favourite 'Stuck Between Stations' has a Springsteen-esque piano part and powerful guitar chords to send the mosh pit of thirty-somethings into overdrive, before Killer Parties acts as the perfect closer:
Ignoring the inexplicable presence of a man in a pink gorilla suit dancing around the stage during the final song, Finn repeatedly calls out, "If she says we partied, I’m pretty sure we partied; I really don’t remember – I remember we departed from our bodies." His performance epitomises what the Hold Steady are best at; he recounts stories he is at least removed from by time, and that the audience here was never part of. Yet, through his lyrics and presence, and the music of the band, all parties are united in sharing the experience. It’s as if everybody present is, on this freezing winter’s night in Manchester, transported to a hazy evening in a far-off Minneapolis summer.
As the final repeat of his refrain ends, Craig Finn, unable to suppress his joy, calls to all those present: ‘You down there, us up here, the pink gorilla, we are all the Hold Steady!’
With the possible exception of the gorilla, he was right.
The band's tour continues in the USA and Australia, but for now, you can find them at their website on myspace, or get hold of a copy of their latest album, Stay Positive.
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