Superblast!

HOLD STEADY TOUR!!!!

"When they say 'Great White Sharks,' they mean the kind in big, black cars..."

7/17 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
7/18 - Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
7/19 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
7/21 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theater
7/23 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
7/26 - Fargo, ND - Fargo Theater
7/27 - Seattle - Capitol Hill Block Party
7/28 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
7/29 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
7/30 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
8/02 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
8/03 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
8/05 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
8/06 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
8/08 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
8/09 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt
8/10 - Charleston, SC - TBA
8/12 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
8/13 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva

Also, Hold Steady gets an "F" for their tour announcement email. All the dates and venues were fucked up and they spelled "Portland" and "Carrboro" wrong.

Man. Hold Steady at Pitchfork fest!!!!

Move over, Coachella. Festival season is just getting started and Pitchfork's annual entry in the derby (7/18-7/20, Chicago) just got sweeter. How much sweeter? Try Sebadoh, Caribou, Times New Viking, High Places, Bon Iver, Elf Power, HEALTH, Mahjongg, Icy Demons, Titus Andronicus, Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar and...HOLD STEADY!!! Best live band ever. These folks are all in addition to previously announced performers like Vampire Weekend, Public Enemy, Mission of Burma, Dinosaur Jr. and BORIS. Best live band ever.

Review: Hold Steady/Art Brut @ El Rey

Reviewed by Dave Lewis.

11/7/07, Los Angeles: A Hold Steady show is the very definition of a community in action (they make the perfect family outings, except for all the drug references): Couples are all hugging and shit, dudes are high-fiving and everyone sings along, even the nerdy female biotech majors and the fuzzy dude wearing a tie-dyed "Keep Austin Weird" shirt.

Peppering their set with 3 new tunes ("Ask Her for Adderall," "Lord I'm Discouraged" and "Jokes about 'Dy'er Mak'er'"), the boys dipped into their three full-lengths in roughly equal measure -- only their debut Almost Killed Me was slightly slighted, represented by only four songs (including a killer set-closing take on "Killer Parties"). A trio of their sharpest songs from their 2006 Boys and Girls in America kicked things off, and things really hit the roof with "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" and encore "Positive Jam," in which singer-lyricist Craig Finn does a better job of recapping 20th Century U.S. history in two short verses than in 5,000 pages of High School history books.

Stellar guitarist Tad Kubler knicks licks from Page and Mould, and really provides the glue that keep the musical side of things hummin' along. Finn has to be the cutest ugly dude in the world (not to mention today's best lyricist HANDS DOWN), and his child-like joy is infectious. When he points to the crowd and says "You are..and he is...and that girl is and she is and we are all...the Hold Steady," you just have to believe him.

On paper, Hold Steady has a lot in common with Brit openers Art Brut -- a talky singer clearly influenced by The Fall's Mark E. Smith, semi-ironic musical "chops", and a flair for the dramatic. But the latter lacks both Finn's razor-sharp social observations and Hold Steady's overall amazing musicality. Art Brut's fun, but nothing more (and sometimes, sorta annoying).

In an amusing move, their video backdrop announced song titles, displayed lyrics ("My little brother just discovered rock n roll"), gave Game Show-like instructions ("clap now" and "applause"), and -- best of all -- posted the usual end of the set sign-offs ("You've been amazing...we've been Art Brut" and "Don't forget to tip your bartender").

Art Brut leader Eddie Argos is a very funny guy, claiming that set closer "Good Weekend" was No. 1 in several countries that don't have charting systems, like Mexico, Japan, Disneyland, "Former Yugoslavia" and Narnia. "Narnia's a hard market to crack", he joked.

Factoid: There were a lot more ladies present than at previous L.A.-area Hold Steady shows. Good initiative, girls!

Hold steady planning live CD

Okeydokey, the Hold Steady has leaked a cool little tidbit: The dudes are plotting to release a LIVE CD sometime next year. Meaning a live recording on a CD, not an actual living, breathing CD.

Sure, they've already released the Live at Fingerprints CD, but that was only 4 songs, Jack. And they were acoustic, Jim. And it was pretty dang disappointing, Hakeem. But, these guys are the greatest live/living rock band, so it'll stomp ass. Fer sure.

Hold Steady tour rolls on...

OK, Boys and Girls, the world's greatest live band (the Hold Steady, stupid) is on the road with Art Brut, and the former have been pulling out some new jams. Stereogum sez they are: "Magazines," "Jokes About D'yer Mak'er" and "Lord, I'm Discouraged," but remember a week ago, NME said they played one called "Ask Her for Adderall." So, who knows? Maybe they have four new songs! That's an EP right there.

Here's a clip of the dudes playing "Lord I'm Discouraged" in Columbus the other day. And here's MFR's take on last night's MPLS show (set list on Pop Life). And P-fork's got killer photos of them in costume on Halloween in Chicago. They'll almost kill you.

UPDATE: Here's our take on their 11/7/7 L.A. show.

Poster by Pete Cardoso.

Hold Steady's Craig Finn lecturing, fishing

Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn (also Ex-LifterPuller) is taking time off from the group's extensive U.S. tour with Art Brut for a couple of cool detours. First, the singer (well, talker really) will lecture at Boston College, his alma mater, in a "master class" with American Studies professor Carlo Rotella. Finnmeister will discuss his lyrics on September 25 at 7:30. And, blissfully, it's open to the public.

And even cooler, Finn will be gone fishin' sometime in the near future when he guests on "Kent Hrbek Outdoors," a Twin Cities-produced wildlife show starring ex-firstbaseman Kent Hrbek of Finn's beloved Minnesota Twins. For Minnesota Hold Steady fans, it's a match made in heaven.

Thanks to Pitchfork for the scoops.

Hold Steady vs. Art Brut in your city

Sweeeeeeet. The Hold Steady and Art Brut are teaming for a mega U.S. tour. You'll have some massive nights with the pair. Hold Steady'll bring the beer, and Art Brut will bring the um...art. And a girl.

10-21 - Providence, RI - Lupo's
10-22 - Boston, MA - Roxy
10-23 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
10-24 - Raleigh, NC - Disco Rodeo
10-25 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt
10-26 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
10-27 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
10-29 - Pontiac, MI -Crofoot Ballroom
10-30 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10-31 - Chicago, IL - Metro
11-01 - Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
11-04 - Seattle, WA - HUB Ballroom
11-05 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-06 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater
11-07 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11-08 - San Diego, CA - Cane's
11-09 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
11-11 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
11-12 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
11-13 - Lawrence, KS - Granada
11-14 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
11-15 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
11-17 - Birmingham, AL - BottleTree Annex
11-18 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
11-19 - Richmond, VA - Toad's Place Richmond
11-20 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11-21 - New York, NY - Terminal 5

Photo of Art Burt at Coachella '06 by Chinapixie.

Review: Hold Steady @ El Rey, L.A.

5/31/7, Los Angeles: Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minneapolis rockers The Hold Steady are one of --if not THE -- greatest live bands on PLANET EARTH. Last night at the El Rey in Los Angeles, they absolutely KILLED it and left the sold-out audience literally screaming for more, more, more.

For the uninitiated, the Hold Steady have been (accuratley) described as "Bruce Springsteen meets the Replacements," "Elvis Costello fronting the E Street Band" and "The best bar band in America." The key to their cult-like devotion from fans is lead singer Craig Finn's infectious tourette's-like stage presence and his eerily prescient lyrical output. He doesn't sing, he lectures. Lectures about drugs, drinking, partying, growing up, living in America (most often Minneapolis and Ybor City, Fla.). Finn is so huggable up there on stage, smiling broadly, quivering and scratching like a junkie and telling the crowd how much fun the band's having.

The setlist included only one song from their debut Almost Killed Me and one B-side ("Modesto is Not That Sweet" -- to which I say, "Yes it is! George Lucas is from there!"), the rest coming from 2005's Seperation Sunday (cop that shit NOW!) and their critically acclaimed Boys and Girls in America.

On the musical side, axeman Tad Kubler has fully made the transition to Guitar God (he even plays a double-necker for a few tracks; "You know those guitars that are like DOUBLE guitars?!"). They're steadily improving as a live unit, which makes their personal sloppiness even more interesting. Sweet Christ, I love the Hold Steady. One last thing, where were all you ladies? Swear to God, the crowd was like 80% males in their thirties.

Openers Illinois (from, um, Pennsylvania) spent as much time praising the Hold Steady as they did playing. The lead singer offered a countdown of sorts to the headlining act: "30 minutes to the Hold Steady," "Hold Steady in less than 20 minutes!," etc. But we were in no hurry, as Illinois proved to be a damn catchy garage rock act.