Thursday, January 01, 2015

The Hold Steady; The So So Glos @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

The Hold Steady; The So So Glos
@ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY - December 31, 2014

Craig Finn, ever the keeper of The Clock, didn't just keep it on time to ring in the New Year, he used it to remind the frolicking, unencumbered, unbridled youth (and resistant to aging non-youth) in the crowd that time eventually runs out, that one day this - having a blasting concert night out on New Year's Eve - can't happen anymore, so keep doing it while you can. And while the Hold Steady played as perfectly as I've ever heard them, as Craig talked about the continued joy of what they do up there, as they poured out a lot of Almost Killed Me and Boys and Girls in America on their way to Teeth Dreams, one could not help be a little wistful, inhaling a notion that time will eventually run out for this band too, certainly one way or another. No wonder "Killer Parties" had people bawling their eyes out. Personally, I saved the internal assessments and New Year's eve recriminations for the walloping ending of "Constructive Summer" and "Slapped Actress". But that's how I have a good time.

The So So Glos are anthropologically interesting. They are from Brooklyn. I mean, from Brooklyn. As in Bay Ridge. Raised in Bay Ridge. And they play punk rock. And they are well under 50. From Bay Ridge. Punk Rock. Well Under 50. Gentlemen, gentlemen, where have you been all my life?! Bay Ridge, apparently. Heyyyyyyyyyyy! Having only known their pop-inflected "Lost Weekend" from last year, this was a fresh introduction. In fact, when Alex Levine made some kind of reference to hip Brooklyn club Shea Stadium, I thought "Ah, probably a song about how they were too native and too old time punk to be allowed into a place north of Prospect Park, none of those indifferent Indie synths!". No. These guys founded Shea Stadium. Shiiiiit, I don't know nothin'. Oh yeah the So So Glos then proceeded to blow the roof off the joint, the best damn opening act the Hold Steady have ever had. The joint band jam on Violent Femmes' "American Music" was THEE moment of the night.

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