The Hold Steady
» The Hold Steady 'Heaven is Whenever' - April 29, 2010
» Laneway Festival 2009 - Alexandria Street, QLD - January 31, 2009
» The Vaccines - August 3, 2011
» Foster The People - July 27, 2011
Upon stepping foot in the Hifi Bar & Ballroom, it was clear to see that The Hold Steady are a band who clearly enjoy what they’re doing. The Brooklyn based quintet of storytelling rockers, comprises of Craig Finn (Vocals), Tad Kubler (Lead Guitar), Galen Polivka (Bass) and Bobby Drake (Drums) and guest guitarist Steve Slevidge tore up the stage right from the get go with their custom lyrically dense tales of Americana. The audience loved it.
Channelling a unique blend of Everclear meets John Mellancamp, The Hold Steady have carved a niche in the indie rock world with their sonical narratives of inner city life, vices, lost innocence and redemption since bursting onto the music scene in 2004 with their debut LP, Almost Killed Me.
7 years on and album number 5 later The Hold Steady are literally staying true to their name, giving the audience of this Golden Plains sideshow the absolute best of themselves. Singer Finn was beaming with joy, channelling it into some very fancy dancing during performances of hits like Sequestered In Memphis, Stuck Between Stations, First Night and Stevie Nix.
With a set list that encompassed their entire catalogue; from their debut up to last years Heaven Is Whenever their was never a dull moment, and as much as they may have played their material before, up on stage The Hold Steady have a real fresh energy; and on the night set closer Most People are DJ’s and the classic Your Little Hoodrat Friend perhaps best encapsulated this, with the audience exploding into a frenzy of dancing, crowd surfing and sing-alongs.
Other standouts include new tracks Rock Problems and The Weekenders, and special mention must go to the quality of the shared guitar duties of Kubler and Slevidge, who tore up the stage with their finger work, even swapping duties throughout the lead guitar solo’s to showcase their impressive talents.
The Hold Steady are a band who are genuinely appreciative and grateful for their Australian reception, and were truly blown away by the energy of their fans, so, after relishing in this fact, were also quick to deliver in back in kind, topping off the night with an encore consisting of Southtown Girls, You Can Make Him Like You and the awesome Killer Parties; which, funnily enough, is a very apt description of the show.
