August 12 2008: The Hold Steady, the Loved Ones - Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC
It was good to be back in Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro again. Rolled into Durham via the overnight Greyhound from Nashville in the early AM and spent my morning downtown. Walked around, ate a kale sandwich that I've since been recreating in my own personal kitchen on a roughly daily basis, checked email at the library, etc.
Showed up at the Cat's Cradle a half-hour after doors opened and soon found myself drinking a beer with Mr. Perry Wright, newly moved from Durham to Raleigh but no worse for the wear. Which is to say that he still drinks beer like Sweeney does. But at least Mr. John Darnielle, who soon arrived, can drink a good local IPA at a reasonable rate. It was good to see both those guys. Yay Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro!
And yay Cat's Cradle! I used to have a VHS tape of Ben Folds Five playing a show there the month their first record came out. Goddamn was that a great tape. I believe they opened that set with "Best Imitation of Myself," a song which pretty much ruled my teenage years. So it felt good and full-circle to see the Hold Steady at the Cradle, with John and Perry in the audience with me.
The Hold Steady opened with "Ask Her For Adderall" and segued it right into "Constructive Summer." And then into "Yeah Sapphire," which I finally understood. That "I was a skeptic at first but these miracles work" line really is pretty great. "Cheyanne Sunrise" got played (introduced as "a cowboy song that goes out to all the cowgirls"), and it was nice to hear it live. I mean, if you follow a band around, after the first couple shows you're really just hoping to hear the b-sides. Ran to the bathroom to take a piss during "Navy Sheets." It's nice that they played it in the middle of the set to allow us discerning listeners a justifiable bathroom break.
The last two songs of the set: "How a Resurrection Really Feels" (never heard live before and it was fucking great) and "Slapped Actress" (in the back of the club there were fewer frat boys with backwards baseball caps to fuck it up). Not too shabby. The encore was "Both Crosses" (only song on the new record I hadn't seen live, and definitely the best tune on the record) (with Franz was on banjo and Tad on acoustic) into "Stay Positive" (what a great live song) into "Most People Are DJs" into "Killer Parties." Really, really, really hard to beat an encore like that.
Showed up at the Cat's Cradle a half-hour after doors opened and soon found myself drinking a beer with Mr. Perry Wright, newly moved from Durham to Raleigh but no worse for the wear. Which is to say that he still drinks beer like Sweeney does. But at least Mr. John Darnielle, who soon arrived, can drink a good local IPA at a reasonable rate. It was good to see both those guys. Yay Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro!
And yay Cat's Cradle! I used to have a VHS tape of Ben Folds Five playing a show there the month their first record came out. Goddamn was that a great tape. I believe they opened that set with "Best Imitation of Myself," a song which pretty much ruled my teenage years. So it felt good and full-circle to see the Hold Steady at the Cradle, with John and Perry in the audience with me.
The Hold Steady opened with "Ask Her For Adderall" and segued it right into "Constructive Summer." And then into "Yeah Sapphire," which I finally understood. That "I was a skeptic at first but these miracles work" line really is pretty great. "Cheyanne Sunrise" got played (introduced as "a cowboy song that goes out to all the cowgirls"), and it was nice to hear it live. I mean, if you follow a band around, after the first couple shows you're really just hoping to hear the b-sides. Ran to the bathroom to take a piss during "Navy Sheets." It's nice that they played it in the middle of the set to allow us discerning listeners a justifiable bathroom break.
The last two songs of the set: "How a Resurrection Really Feels" (never heard live before and it was fucking great) and "Slapped Actress" (in the back of the club there were fewer frat boys with backwards baseball caps to fuck it up). Not too shabby. The encore was "Both Crosses" (only song on the new record I hadn't seen live, and definitely the best tune on the record) (with Franz was on banjo and Tad on acoustic) into "Stay Positive" (what a great live song) into "Most People Are DJs" into "Killer Parties." Really, really, really hard to beat an encore like that.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 12:55 AM
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