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| photo by Stephen Bloch |
Interestingly enough, Wisconsin holds a close place in the heart of the band, as guitarist Tad Kubler grew up in Janesville, and bass player, Galen Polivka grew up in Whitefish Bay, along with original drummer, Judd Counsell.
I have had the pleasure of seeing several Hold Steady shows throughout my years as a music fan, including a historic show with them and Heartless Bastards at the Mirimar Theater in 2007, with maybe 150-200 folks in attendance, two shows in 2008 and 2009 at the Majestic Theater in Madison, and their previous performance at Summerfest on the U.S. Cellular stage in 2010.
Put simply, the Hold Steady is a rock 'n roll act in its purest form. Their songs are often compact arrangements driven by pounding guitars, thumping bass riffs, and straight-ahead drums, with Finn's sing-shout-talk lyrical style as an overlay. Up until 2010, the band included keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, Franz Nicolay, whose departure changed the sound of the band dramatically. Keyboard, harmonica and accordion arrangements that Nicolay was know for were replaced by guitarist Steven Selvidge, formerly of Lucero. This swap turned the Hold Steady from more of a 1970's era Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band sounding act into more of a late 1980's guitar driven outfit.
For their headlining Summerfest gig, the crowd at the U.S. Cellular Stage was considerably smaller than it was in 2010 when the band last played the world's largest music festival. That did not stop Finn, Kubler and company from delivering a compelling and riveting performance, incorporating material from the band's six records. The Hold Steady opened with "Positive Jam," the first track off of their debut record, Almost Killed Me, and a number which I had never heard previously. It was a great building rocker to set the stage for an evening of tunes.
The set favored numbers from the band's most commercially and critically acclaimed record, Boys and Girls in America, which sounded different with more intricate guitar interplay between Selvidge and Kubler. Other tracks like "The Swish" and "Constructive Summer" felt like new re-energized numbers despite being older tracks.
As for the crowd, we all were quickly energized and jumped up and down on the bleachers shouting out lyrics along with Finn, while having a great time and escaping life for a while to enjoy some good ol' rock 'n roll music.
Setlist courtesy of Steven Bloom and Setlist.FM:
I have had the pleasure of seeing several Hold Steady shows throughout my years as a music fan, including a historic show with them and Heartless Bastards at the Mirimar Theater in 2007, with maybe 150-200 folks in attendance, two shows in 2008 and 2009 at the Majestic Theater in Madison, and their previous performance at Summerfest on the U.S. Cellular stage in 2010.
Put simply, the Hold Steady is a rock 'n roll act in its purest form. Their songs are often compact arrangements driven by pounding guitars, thumping bass riffs, and straight-ahead drums, with Finn's sing-shout-talk lyrical style as an overlay. Up until 2010, the band included keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, Franz Nicolay, whose departure changed the sound of the band dramatically. Keyboard, harmonica and accordion arrangements that Nicolay was know for were replaced by guitarist Steven Selvidge, formerly of Lucero. This swap turned the Hold Steady from more of a 1970's era Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band sounding act into more of a late 1980's guitar driven outfit.
After 2010's lackluster Heaven is Whenever, the band went though some personal growth and returned with a more mature and musically succinct effort, Teeth Dreams this year. The live interview and studio session, which I had the pleasure of taking in from the front row was a great conversation between the band and Ken, the 88.9 DJ who conducted the interview. The set consisted of four powerful tracks off of Teeth Dreams, "Spinners," "The Ambassador," "I Hope his Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You," and, "Almost Everything." The candidness and intimacy of the session reminded me of VH-1 Storytellers' series. It also reaffirmed that while the Hold Steady has achieved some commercial success, they remain humble musicians who are passionate about their craft and working with each other.
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| Craig Finn during the 88.9 Studio Milwaukee Session; photo by Stephen Bloch |
For their headlining Summerfest gig, the crowd at the U.S. Cellular Stage was considerably smaller than it was in 2010 when the band last played the world's largest music festival. That did not stop Finn, Kubler and company from delivering a compelling and riveting performance, incorporating material from the band's six records. The Hold Steady opened with "Positive Jam," the first track off of their debut record, Almost Killed Me, and a number which I had never heard previously. It was a great building rocker to set the stage for an evening of tunes.
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| Photo by Stephen Bloch |
As for the crowd, we all were quickly energized and jumped up and down on the bleachers shouting out lyrics along with Finn, while having a great time and escaping life for a while to enjoy some good ol' rock 'n roll music.
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Setlist courtesy of Steven Bloom and Setlist.FM:
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- Encore:
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