Live: The Hold Steady with Drive By Truckers 11.7.8

Night two of the Rock and Roll Means Well tour and the Hold Steady were in the headlining slot. I came in while Drive By Truckers were into their first song and was staggered at how much more crowded it was than Thursday night. It made sense, as the shows a couple months ago were packed cheek to jowl. I picked out some real estate and settled in on the Neff side of things so I could be pushed in front of by as many packs of seven or more WFUV subscribers as possible. It's always a pleasure to rock with the non-profit set, let me tell you.

That said, Drive By Truckers sure are great. It had been a while since I had been really excited to see them but these shows have reaffirmed my love for the gents (and lady). Mike Cooley is one bad-ass individual. He's really been hitting them out of the park recently, especially with all the corkers he's got on Brighter Than Creation's Dark.   Patterson dropped science about Southern lithographers, Shonna took a turn at the mike and Johnny Neff killed everybody with his knee-weakening lap steel and killer guitar. I'm pretty sure Dave Marr is in school, but dammit can we get a Star Room Boys reunion already!? Make it happen, Patterson.

I was willing to endure a crappy spot for DBT, but I wasn't going to put up with that shit for a Hold Steady headlining slot. Luckily, I ran into the irrepressible John Cake and a gang of the other Unified Scenesters front and center. While I'm accounting socially, it was great to see Chris, Neil and meet Mr. Circuits from the Twin Cities. I'm not really about the talk at the average rock show, but them's good people. 

I thought that Hold Steady played it a little safe the night before. It was a decent set, but I was pretty sure we had something better than usual in store for us. Boy, was that an understatement.  Lots of b-side stuff: You Gotta Dance (!!!), Adderall, Arms and Hearts, plus the usual brace of absurdly good album cuts. It was hot as hell, and kids need to learn how to dance, but a great set that ended with How A Resurrection Really Feels. 

So then there was the small matter of the encore.  They opened with First Night, I think mostly so Tad could show off his new J-200, but settled into rock mode with Stay Positive. Then things started getting surreal. Craig started playing a familiar riff to the quiet room, then stepped to the mike and sang, "Our band could be your life...". Yep, History Lesson, Pt. 2, with Tad Kubler referenced in the Mike Watt slot. Mindblowing, and wonderfully enough mistaken for a new HS song by the internet set. Maybe that's not so wonderful. Either way, the only way it could have gotten any better was if they maybe played Burnin' For You into Killer Parties. Oh, they did that too. Seriously one of the best rock shows I've ever seen, and I'm old and shit. Just a spectacular bill from two of the best bands out there today.

As an aside, can I take a moment and speak to Dave Hause? Your band is good and you've got ok songs, but you're never going to be Patterson Hood or Craig Finn, so please stop forcing yourself into the picture. It's just embarassing and desperate. Your level of dick-riding makes Jesse Malin's attempts look classy and I shudder to think how much browbeating it took for Dusty to give you Craig's guitar. A guitar you are not fit to wield, my friend. Know your role and stay off the stage, especially when your fucking band isn't even on the damn bill. I'd love to see him try and pull that shit if Cooley was on stage.

That expunged, it was great to see all the Unified Scene kids. That was a hell of a good time. So good of a time that I almost didn't mind it too much when some Sex In The City cast-off doored me off my bike on Avenue A during the ride home. Almost.

See you at the rock show!

R