The Hold Steady

Live in Glasgow (2014)

badseed

The Hold Steady are an incongruous looking bunch. There's drummer Bobby Drake, who wouldn't look out of place in a metal band, mop-haired bass player Galen Polivka, and clean cut guitarists Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge, who you could almost imagine going door to door distributing religious literature. Then there's Craig Finn, who looks more like a high school science teacher than a rock frontman. But they came together to create a glorious noise at the Garage in Glasgow on October 15, 2014.

A combination of work, travel, parenthood and a ridiculously early start meant I only caught the tail end of a lively set by the opening band, Brooklyn punks the So So Glos. But it was soon time for the main event. Despite the early start, the room was rammed when the Hold Steady took to the stage and launched into the slow burning opener "Positive Jam", Finn speak-singing his typically dense lyrics with the rest of the band, and the audience, waiting to explode into action.

"Stuck Between Stations" followed, the first of six tracks given an airing from Boys and Girls in America, before "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You" provided the first taste of this year's Teeth Dreams. There were numerous highlights in a 90-minute set full of classic rock riffs and Finn's trademark lyrical dexterity. "You Can Make Him Like You" got the crowd singing along, while "Magazines" showed off Kubler and Selvidge's backing vocals to good effect. "Chips Ahoy!" – D.H. Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner rewritten for the drug age – was swiftly followed by "The Weekenders" with its lyrical call-back ("there was that whole thing with the horses…"). "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" got arguably the best reception of the night, before a storming run through "Stay Positive" ended the main set.

After the briefest of breaks, the hazily drifting "Citrus" kicked off the encore, before "Constructive Summer" got a forest of arms raising a toast to Saint Joe Strummer. The band are spoiled for choice when it comes to closing tracks ("How a Resurrection Really Feels", "Southtown Girls", "Slapped Actress"…) but here they opted for the epic "Killer Parties". It's interesting that, ten years on, they still choose to bookend their set with the opening and closing tracks from their very first album.

This was my first time seeing the band since the departure of Franz Nicolay, and while his keyboards and stage presence were missed at times ("First Night" being a prime example), the addition of Selvidge's guitar noticeably beefed up some of the older songs – songs which weren't exactly lacking punch to begin with.

Hold Steady records tend to be front-loaded with the best tracks, so their live show is like all those brilliant opening salvos combined. This set included the first three tracks from Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America, and the first two from Almost Killed Me, Stay Positive and Teeth Dreams. There were only two songs from Heaven is Whenever, perhaps a recognition that it's the weakest point in a mostly stellar back catalogue.

Craig Finn, alongside John K. Samson and Derek Archambault, is one of few songwriters in the modern punk/indie scene whose lyrics I would happily sit down and read outwith their musical context – the Hold Steady are a band for people who love words as much as riffs. There was a touch of Michael Stipe in Finn's jittery stage presence – never still, always gesticulating, as he weaved tales of recurring characters Holly, Gideon, Charlemagne and their druggy little messed up lives. But he never looked less than thrilled to be up on stage. "There is so much joy in what we do up here", he proclaimed towards the end of the show. He says it every time they play, but it still sounds genuine.

Set list:
Positive Jam
Stuck Between Stations
I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You
Cattle and the Creeping Things
The Swish
Sequestered in Memphis
You Can Make Him Like You
Rock Problems
Magazines
First Night
Big Cig
Hornets! Hornets!
Chips Ahoy!
Spinners
The Weekenders
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
Stay Positive

Encore:
Citrus
Constructive Summer
Hot Soft Light
Killer Parties