LIKE A FINE WINE LIFE JUST GETS BETTER WITH REALIZATIONS








(not the Vancouver gig poster)

There are definitely some very good things about getting older: you get more handsome (girls and boys), your dick gets bigger, you have more to look back on and reflect, and you meet more girls.

But another great thing is that you realise that no matter how many different types of "rock" music there is , it's like Huey Lewis eluded too, it's the heart of rock and roll that matters. This past Friday night The Hold Steady poured their hearts, as well as a lot of Jack Daniels and some reefer, right off of their sleeves and onto several hundred peoples' souls. There was a surpsingly low amount of people in The Plaza on Friday which makes absolutely no sense to me. But those that were there got to witness the equivalent of TV On The Radio playing The Piccadilly a few years ago and Queens of The Stone Age playing the Starfish room in 1998 (or was that 1999?). This was a band at it's absolute pinnacle of rockinitis. No matter where they go from here, how big they get, how big a venue they play, anything, this will be the show that now defines this band to me (and Rob after I called him at 1:30 a.m. to let him know this).

The band played most every song off the new album, Boys and Girls in America, and several off their previous two albums. There was no faking it. Craig Finn was hopping all over the stage clapping hands like a spastic nerd, Tad Kubler kept the guitar choppy, Franz Nicolay played sweet keys with the look and swagger of Al Swerengen from Deadwood, Bobby Drake was steady on the beat, and Galen Polivka was a drunken cupid shooting the audience with his fake arrows. Less than half way through the set the big-ass bottle of Jack was passed around the stage and Craig Finn would periodically bend down to take hits off one of the many joints being waved the bands way. That's rock and roll.

It's tough to say this is a truly original band as far as sound goes, but that's probably been the case for over 15 years with any music being played by guitar, bass and drums. What's not tough to say is that The Hold Steady hits you with good time rock that tells a story in every song; anyone who's grown up in North America will completely know where the lyrics are coming from. They get you into party mode no matter what you might think you're nights going to be like. This is a party band that loves their fans as much as their music. The last time they strolled through town Rob and I just missed them opening for The Constantines, but we met them at Bosman's afterwards and had good times and good chats with them. We didn't go out with them this year, but they extended an invitation to all to join them in getting more drunk and partying after the show.

It was a good night. Right now I'm holding my hand up, palms outwards and twisting my first and second fingers around each other. Will you do the same?