The Hold Steady--9:30 Club, Washington, DC

There was a time when the bleachers at Wrigley Field were the best place in the world to watch a baseball game. Tickets were less than $10 and were issued on a first-come-first-serve-basis. You’d show up with friends, watch some baseball, take in a few beers and some sun, and be surrounded by scores of baseball fans doing the same. Not anymore, though. It’s over. It’s been over for a long time. Go sit in the bleachers today and you’ll pay more than $40. Baseball fans? Nah. They’ve been replaced with drunks, idiots, assholes, bachelorette parties, fratheads, meatheads, redheads, investment bankers, Nazis, strippers, derelicts, and these guys. And they all show up with same intentions: get as drunk as possible, be as obnoxious as possible, get in a fight, try and ruin everyone else’s time, and maybe, just maybe, if there’s time, watch some of that mysterious game that the ticket stub says is called baseball. Simply put, the Wrigley Field bleachers have become a caricature of what they once were.

I only bring this up because there was a (very small) segment of fans at the Hold Steady show this past Thursday at the 9:30 Club that reminded me of the bleacher evolution. They were in the very front and center and they were horrible. I’m not sure if they were there to listen to music, or if they were just there to party and throw their weight around. They know who they are, but I’m thinking mostly of the moron in the green Celtics hat, the imbecile in the Pittsburgh Pirates hat and his numbskull friend, and last, and certainly least, the walking poster child for Roe v. Wade that jumped on the stage (twice) during “Stuck Between Stations.” The first time he did it, he got a bit of a grin out of Tad Kubler after he jumped back into the crowd. The second time, not so much. He ran onstage, tried to hug Craig Finn, was brushed off, tried to grab the mic, and then jumped back into his cesspool of friends. Craig flipped him off. I don’t know Craig Finn, but he seems like the type of guy that would have to be really pissed to flip a guy off in the middle of a song. And where the hell were you, 9:30 Club security? You are the same guys that stare at my ID for 15 minutes while I’m trying to get in the door, but yet will let a bunch of hooligans run amok on stage? You serious?

My point is this...when you go to a baseball game, have fun, cheer, heckle but never once think you’re part of the action. No one paid to see you. Same goes for a rock show. I’ve always had the best times at Hold Steady shows, and the crowd is always great. But I don’t want to see the party atmosphere morph into something undesirable and inauthentic, and that’s what I felt like was happening. Having a ticket doesn’t gives you permission to break down that fourth wall between you and band, outside of maybe participating in a sing-along; a concept the Hold Steady have always been more than gracious to embrace. But other than that, when at a Hold Steady show, only two things are required of you: stay positive, and stay the fuck off the stage.

That’s all I am going to say about that. I might be overreacting; it really was just a tiny segment of the crowd, but someone needed to say something. The rest of the night was just like you would envision of any Hold Steady show: fun, loud, and memorable. Opening was punk band the Loved Ones from Philadelphia. Other than name recognition, I didn’t know anything about them, but damn, they’re good. They have this style (especially frontman Dave Hause) that reminded me of NOFX. So it came as little surprise when I came home and learned they were signed to Fat Mike’s record label. This was the last show of the Stay Positive tour, and to celebrate Kubler and Franz Nicolay came out on stage and participated on Loved Ones’ last song “Louisiana.” Check out the Loved Ones when you get the chance, you’ll have to trust me on this one. I’m happy for Philly. Their sports teams suck, but at least they have a good band they can hang their hat on.

(Between bands, Brian texted me from Denver with the following message: “When in Denver, have a slice at Pizzareia [sic] Mundo on 17th. Fresh mozz, homemade sauce. Delish.” Thing is, Brian is a vegetarian so I take this recommendation with a little suspicion. I know this website is widely read in Denver, can anyone out there vouch for this place?)

What makes the Hold Steady such a great band is how well they bring people together. The atmosphere at their shows has always been very communal. Just as they did four weeks ago, they opened things up with “Constructive Summer”, the hard rockin’ and hard drinkin’ first track from Stay Postive. The tone was pretty much set for the evening.

This probably wasn’t the best sounding Hold Steady show I have seen. The band didn’t seem all that together on “Massive Nights” and Craig was periodically having feedback problems with his mic throughout the show. Nonetheless, that’s when the band's strengths are most obvious. A few minor glitches here and there won’t prevent them from connecting with 99% of the crowd. It’s rather amazing how repetitious their (especially Craig’s) antics are from show to show, yet they still have this way of making everyone feel like they’re seeing something special for the first time. The thing is, there probably was a decent contingency of people that were experiencing this for the first time. They weren’t let down. And that’s important. You can say a lot of things about the Hold Steady in concert, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to say they’re mailing it in. Here's a pretty good collection of pictures from the show.

I’ve written about this band’s live shows quite a few times so I don’t feel the need to delve into too many specifics. As far as a setlist is concerned, they played everything I wanted to hear off the new album, most notably “Sequestered in Memphis” and “Lord, I’m Discouraged.” The first time I heard “Sequestered in Memphis” I was slightly underwhelmed. But that song just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? It’s not going away anytime soon. Hause from the Loved Ones returned the favor from earlier and sang along with the band on “Stay Positive.”

The most raucous part of the evening was when they played “Your Little Hoodrat Friend.” For a second I thought the roof was going to blow off the 9:30 Club. People were jumping and dancing and singing and shouting. It was glorious.

Once nice surprise was seeing the band play some of their rarities along with the expected hits. This included “You Gotta Dance (with Who You Came to the Dance With)”, “Ask Her for Adderall”, “Girls Like Status” and one song I had never even heard before. I believe Craig remarked it was only the second time they had played it, and the first time they had ever played it correctly.

During the encore, after “Southtown Girls”, Craig did his usual spiel about how much joy they have being in a band and they laid into “Killer Parties. When I left and saw a quiet 9th Street laid out before me, I realized how loud the show had been. I didn’t wear earplugs (which was completely asinine), and my ears were ringing harder than perhaps ever before. If you go to a lot of shows, you should wear earplugs. End of discussion. I have a great-aunt who has nearly lost all of her hearing and I have it on pretty high authority that she hasn’t frequented that many rock clubs. I sometimes grimace wondering what’s going to happen to our generation. Although, perhaps next time I’m sitting in the Wrigley Field bleachers and there’s a bridal party above me discussing whatever it is that they discuss, and there’s an idiot on my right telling his buddy as soon as he finishes his beer he’s going to go beat up the nine year old in the Cardinals hat, I won’t be able to hear any of it. And I don’t think that’s trivial.

--Alex