Performing songs from an album called Boys and Girls in America at a benefit sponsored by a non-profit called Concerts For Kids might seem like a no-brainer…unless of course, you know the album. When Craig Finn informed the crowd “it started recreational, it ended kinda medical”, he wasn’t talking about youth sports. “Massive Nights” wasn’t your traditional ‘coming of age’ prom story either. And if the Sal Paradise and John Berryman references weren’t enough to convince the crowd that The Hold Steady weren’t some average Top 40 band, Finn’s detailed narrative about what he did (or didn’t) do with “your little hoodrat friend” should have made it obvious. The mouth of the Brooklyn band might look like someone’s dad, but his warnings come from the streets and back alleys of the Twin Cities. Luckily the kids were too busy blowing bubbles and watching their parents deal with rock problems to really grasp the lesson on “Southtown Girls”, but hopefully they adhere to Finn’s advice about smoking ”kids, don’t smoke cigs, but if you have to, don’t smoke the big ones”. Great advice Craig!
All kidding aside, I thought it was great that The Hold Steady found the time to come out to Denver to perform an hour long set on a small stage on the 16th Street Mall. I can’t speak to how the whole weekend went, but for the few hours we were in attendance the event seemed like a success. Stages, beer gardens and local food trucks took over a few blocks downtown and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. In typical Spring fashion the weather was unpredictable, but the black clouds did nothing more than threaten to kill the mood during our time downtown. We brought our daughter to the event, and although she wasn’t as impressed with The Whigs or The Hold Steady as she was with Lana Del Rey a few days earlier, she still had a good time watching Dad rock out to one of his favorite bands. She wasn’t alone.
The Hold Steady drew a crowd young and old, but they really played to the fans in the front – those who knew every word to every song. It was my 10th time seeing the band and my anticipation was no less than the first time. They took the stage at 6:00pm and immediately went into the first single from the new album. “I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You” took on new meaning as they performed in front of families in the early evening instead of their usual place in a dark bar in the middle of the night, but somehow they didn’t seem out of place. Finn’s antics onstage have always been amusing – his arms flailing around like he’s made of putty – but in the light of day they were even more so. The Hold Steady are all about songs that get druggy, ugly and bloody, but at the end of the day they are a Springsteen-influenced bar band and can be fun for the whole family…as long as the younger members of the family don’t listen too closely.
The performance was heavy on material from Teeth Dreams and Boys and Girls in America, but even with the short set time they managed to throw in a few from every album since Almost Killed Me. The weather held out and the donation tubes were overflowing by the end. The sound wasn’t perfect, but this was an outside show being presented on a budget. The day really was about the kids, and I hope the organization raised a ton of money for them, but it didn’t hurt that I got to chalk up another Hold Steady show while supporting the cause. It was great to see the boys in the band, and it was great to hear about Gideon and Charlemagne again, but to be honest I’m not exactly sure what charities I was supporting. My only hope is that whoever received the money is able to save just one kid from becoming a character on the next Hold Steady album. That would make it all worth it.
Setlist:
I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You
Constructive Summer
Hot Soft Light
Big Cig
Stuck Between Stations
Sequestered in Memphis
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
The Ambassador
Spinners
Massive Nights
Rock Problems
Magazines
Southtown Girls
On With The Business
Chips Ahoy!
