The Hold Steady @ Brooklyn Bowl

The Hold Steady; Patterson Hood
@ Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY - November 29, 2017

The first of the four nights at Brooklyn Bowl for the Hold Steady started off with a "Positive Jam". A decade after their love affair with a strong fan base and considerable respect, a decade far removed from how the world looked (even though events of 2000 through 2008 merited much of the same vibes now in overdrive), the Hold Steady have revitalized themselves with a relatively new approach: Residencies in core cities (New York, Chicago), no seeming pressure to put out an album (a single will gladly suffice if it works and boy does the new one, "Entitlement Crew", work), and most importantly of all, the return last year of Franz Nicolay to the fold.

For some, Franz was the magic glue, the transcendental element that made Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive and the Hold Steady as a band, stand out. When he left, some of the heart went out of it for some folks. His replacements were more than able, notably Steve Selvidge on guitar, but something was missing and it showed in performances and new records. But Franz is back. And Steve is still there, playing excellently. Craig Finn said it accurately at the show: this is the best line-up in band history (there haven't been that many line-up changes, far from it, he means they are now at full strength, reinvigorated and sounding better than ever. He is right).

Can't tell a lie - in a write-up of the National's Forest Hills show (and these two bands always seem to be complimenting each other), I alluded to bands of the same class who are already nostalgic for themselves, and I had the Hold Steady in mind. One was hesitant (and avoided this residency last time) about the band these days, even with Franz back. But One was stupid. The band, as far as this whole rock n roll thing goes, is still immediate. "Positive Jam" now serves as a history of what was to come. The Post-War Interstate Empire of Midwestern Cities, the promise and fall of the Baby Boomers, the turgidness of the 70's and 80's. "Constructive Summer", one of the all time anthems to end all anthems, now also has a chilling (no pun intended) note ("Work at the mill until you die") to the consequences of those bored days. Even "Stuck Between Stations" rings with a call to a dark fate. And the songs of Holly and the characters who make up the Craig Finn storybook, the mix of sex, drugs, and Jesus, has a canonical ring to the confused society in which we now reside. Will the ending be redemptive as in "How a Resurrection Really Feels"? Or we all going to stop short at a "Multitude of Casulties"?

Around that, it was the same old rock n roll nirvana. From "The Swish" and "Rock Problems" to "Hot Soft Light" (anytime that follows "Constructive Summer", it's like they put the setlist together just for me), "The Weekenders", and "Sequestered in Memphis". Opening act and GFOB (Great Friend of the Band) Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, helped the boys out on a cover of AC/DC's "Ride On", a tribute to Malcolm Young, the late, not-so-unsung bedrock of that power house, though Craig and Co. keenly showed off AC/DC's one, technically speaking, slow song, a straight true blues. The Hold Steady are all about rock n roll legacy (while not being a Legacy Act...not yet...?) and the honor to the forefathers who were once the young standard bearers for the Greats before them, is how it's meant to be done, no matter what strange days we are in.