First Night: The Hold Steady, A Positive Rage

(Note: This is a heavily edited version of a review that I wrote that is now up at Prefix Magazine. Apparently, I talk way too much about The Steady once I get going, as it was cut from about a thousand words to just over four hundred. And SO IT GOES.)

Some bands cannot be fully appreciated unless you see them live. The Hold Steady are not one of those bands. No, the odd thing about The Hold Steady is that you really need to hear them on disc, in a controlled, confined arena, in order to understand what the hell Craig Finn is on about in a live setting. Once you are able to do that, there aren’t many rock bands that can evoke the feelings of unity and joy that The Hold Steady can on stage.

*****Read the "full" review here.