The Hold Steady awakening

Over the past week Sloan and Kristen went on a vacation to Colorado and I had to stay behind due to my week long vacation and the fact I needed to work. I would have to say over the past three months I finally discovered the band The Hold steady. While trying to figure out what I was going to do while my family was gone I found out that they were going to be in Dallas over the weekend. On top of this The Whigs were opening up for them. I threw caution to the wind and bought a ticket to the show. This is the first time I have ever gone to a concert solo, so I was a little nervous, but excited about seeing The Hold Steady.

Over the course of the week, I made sure I was up to pace with their catalogue of music and I fell in love with Craig Finn the lead singer. He sounds like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Yes I know that sounds strange but he makes it work.

Well the night of the concert I get to The Granada (best venue in Dallas) and parked and walked over to a sports bar to have a few beers before the show. I was excited but didn’t know what to expect, seeing they are called “the best bar band in America”. So I walked in and got my spot for the show and was ready to hear the first band play. Parker Gispert and the Whigs put on a great show, even though they were short their bassist. This had me even more excited to see the Hold Steady.

Then Craig Finn and the Hold Steady come out on stage and without me knowing it, blew me away. People often talk about “religious” experiences at concerts and I can only up to this point think of two instances and some borderline ones. My first two were during the summer of 1998; the first one was July 5th 1998, when I first got to see Pearl Jam live. The second one was just 10 days later when I watched an up and coming musician take the main stage at the Horde Festival after the Smashing Pumpkins broke up on stage in front of everyone, his name was Ben Harper. I was more awe struck when I saw the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. These concerts made me realize there was more out in the world than what I was seeing in Oklahoma, and I loved it.

Well during the course of the show, all I could think about is how much I can relate to the lead singer and The Hold Steady’s songs. I am coming to the realization that I am not getting younger, and even though I feel like I am in my 20’s, I am not. I can say right now I have been in a little funk about myself the past few weeks, and I needed a good rock show to wake me up. From the opening song “The Sweet Part of the City” to the last song “Stay Positive” Craig Finn made sure he slapped me around to wake me up. By the time I walked out of The Granada, hot, sweaty, ears ringing, a few PBR tall boys under my belt, I felt I was back to my old self.
At one point Craig Finn told the crowd “It’s great to play dirty sweaty rock music for a bunch of great people”, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Sometimes you need some good dirty sweaty rock to break you out of your funk. The past few weeks I haven’t felt like myself, but last weekend I felt like I was back to being me again. So when some people say, they have a “religious” experience at a concert, I would like to think it’s more of a cleansing . Sometimes you have to just lose yourself in the moment to recharge. So at this point I feel I need to say Thank You to the Hold Steady, and now I can’t wait to get to October so I have 3 full days of being cleansed and recharged.

(Now my goal is to see a live show a month, so Kristen be ready to go to a show next month in Dallas, I get first choice.)

Music for the week:
To go along with the theme of the blog, here are some albums to check out from the Hold Steady and the Whigs. If you want some great albums and great music pick these up asap.

The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls In America
This album was released in 2006, and it’s probably one of my favorite albums by HS. This album shows off how great of a song writer Craig Finn is. With references to Jack Kerouac’s narrator Sal Paradise in “Stuck Between Stations”. My favorite songs on this album is Chips Ahoy, Massive Nights, and Stuck Between Stations. Great album to start off with if you want to listen to HS.

The Hold Steady-Separation Sunday
This album was released in 2005, and this album follows four characters. More of a concept album the songs tie together a story and once again shows the song writing talents of Finn. The four characters are Craig, Holly (also known as Halleluiah), Charlemange (a pimp) and Gideon (a skinhead) as they travel from city to city and party to party. My favorite songs on this album are Your Little Hoodrat Friend, Hornets!Hornets!, and How a Resurrection Really Feels.

The Hold Steady-Heaven Is Whenever
This is the fifth album and most recent for HS. This is more of an aging gracefully record for the band. They have the mix between nice mellow slow songs to their usually full throttle rock songs. As of 2010 this is in my top 10 albums. My favorite songs on this album are Sweet Sound of the City, Hurricane J, The Weekenders, and Rock Problems.

The Whigs-Mission Control
The Whigs are a Athens, Georgia based band, where at one time was one of the many alt-rock mecca’s back in the day. This is one of the first albums I heard from the Whigs and it’s a great garage rock album. I would say their sound is kind of close to the Strokes. My favorite songs on this album are Like a Vibration, Production City, and I Got Ideas.

The Whigs-In The Dark
This is the third album from the Whigs, that was released this year. This is a great follow up with the new bassist Tim Deaux. I feel this album should get more air play on alt stations (of course that probably won’t happen), but it’s a great album and in my top 25 for 2010. Check out the songs Hundred/Million, Kill Me Carolyne, and In The Dark.