He’s balding, scruffy and older than the average frontman, but Craig Finn knows how to work a crowd. Tonight at the TBMC he talks of his Irish roots and makes favourable comparisons with recent touring experiences in the UK. In Dublin, he says, “the weather’s nicer, the food’s better and the girls are prettier”. Oh, Mr. Finn, you do go on.
Like The Feeling, Brooklyn-based rockers The Hold Steady are a case study in post-ironic rock. One is never quite sure if you’re supposed to love the music as is, or with airy inverted commas. But there’s no hint of arch awareness when you’re watching them turn it up to 11 with their roof-raising, rabble-rousing brand of honest-to-God rock. There are clear echoes of Lizzy and the post-punk frisson of Pere Ubu and Husker Du, but like Sam’s Town by The Killers, The Hold Steady know that the future of rock ‘n’ roll is Bruce Springsteen, particularly his first three albums.
Beneath the bonnet of the muscle car music, Craig is a sensitive soul. The beautiful teen losers who haunt his lyrics, spiritual relations to Kerouac’s folk, attain an added poignancy when you hear the songs performed live. “I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere,” he sings on the corny, but affecting, mass rendition of ‘Citrus’. Even the exuberant countrified refrain from ‘Southtown Girls’ has a broken slacker sadness about it (“Southtown girls won’t blow you away, but you know they’ll stay”).
The darkness, however, does not temper the exhilaration in the room. These guys genuinely love playing together and infectiously revel in each other’s solos. If anything, the crowd is a little too fervent, a little too demanding for favourite numbers. Chill out people. Ever hear of a set list?