June 26 2008: The Hold Steady, Aberdeen City - Paradise, Boston MA
So a couple days ago I looked at the Hold Steady's website to see if they were playing any shows anytime soon. And there it was, a free show in Boston on thursday. I love not working!
I dragged Sweeney out of the house by promising to buy him a beer and to help him pack stuff up the next day, and times were good. I'd never been to the Paradise before and was pretty pleased with the layout. We got ourselves a spot to stand upstairs just across from the stage, high above the craziness that we figured was going to ensue.
The first band was pretty rough. Rarely does one see the lead guitarist play with his teeth. Probably because it makes the guy look like a fucking douche. Maybe this guy was doing it to keep people from noticing that all his band's songs were bad Radiohead ripoffs. Who knows. What I do know is that Sweeney and I were definitely paying more attention to our High Life consuption than we were to the openers. Thank goodness for earplugs.
And then the Hold Steady came on stage and opened with "Constructive Summer," a tune I've been playing pretty regularly around the house as of late. Great fucking tune. And from that into "Sequestered in Memphis," "The Swish" and "The Cattle and the Creeping Things." Not a bad way to start a show. And those earplugs? I couldn't bear to keep them in.
Most of the new record got played. Everything, I think, except for "Both Crosses," which is a shame cause I think that's probably one of the best tunes on it. They played "Knuckles," which I'd never heard before, and closed the set with "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" into "Slapped Actress." The encore finished up with "Southtown Girls," which I honestly don't dislike anymore. I really like the riff. And the structure doesn't annoy me as much anymore. But they opened the encore with "One For the Cutters," arguably one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Seriously. Why do bands do stuff like that? I do not know.
But you just can't beat a free show sponsored by Miller in which the lead guitar player feels the need to prophylacticly cover his pedals with cellophane. That's my kind of show.
I dragged Sweeney out of the house by promising to buy him a beer and to help him pack stuff up the next day, and times were good. I'd never been to the Paradise before and was pretty pleased with the layout. We got ourselves a spot to stand upstairs just across from the stage, high above the craziness that we figured was going to ensue.
The first band was pretty rough. Rarely does one see the lead guitarist play with his teeth. Probably because it makes the guy look like a fucking douche. Maybe this guy was doing it to keep people from noticing that all his band's songs were bad Radiohead ripoffs. Who knows. What I do know is that Sweeney and I were definitely paying more attention to our High Life consuption than we were to the openers. Thank goodness for earplugs.
And then the Hold Steady came on stage and opened with "Constructive Summer," a tune I've been playing pretty regularly around the house as of late. Great fucking tune. And from that into "Sequestered in Memphis," "The Swish" and "The Cattle and the Creeping Things." Not a bad way to start a show. And those earplugs? I couldn't bear to keep them in.
Most of the new record got played. Everything, I think, except for "Both Crosses," which is a shame cause I think that's probably one of the best tunes on it. They played "Knuckles," which I'd never heard before, and closed the set with "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" into "Slapped Actress." The encore finished up with "Southtown Girls," which I honestly don't dislike anymore. I really like the riff. And the structure doesn't annoy me as much anymore. But they opened the encore with "One For the Cutters," arguably one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Seriously. Why do bands do stuff like that? I do not know.
But you just can't beat a free show sponsored by Miller in which the lead guitar player feels the need to prophylacticly cover his pedals with cellophane. That's my kind of show.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 12:49 AM
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