The Hold Steady – seeing a Brooklyn band in London

: Image by *hoodrat* via Flickr

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see The Hold Steady play the final show of their tour at the Roundhouse in London. (If you ever get a chance to see THS, go. If you get a chance to see a show at the Roundhouse, go.)

Our seats were on the upper level, so I didn’t get down into the crowd where it was packed – totally sold out. What was great about the mezzanine was that you had this great perspective of the whole show – the band on stage, the crowd’s vibe, the lights. The crowd was an interesting pseudo-hipster-stroke-american-rocker mix.

Pitchfork summed it up in a 2006 review:

The Hold Steady craft classic rock-indebted music that would sound better sandwiched between Born to Run and Back in Black than Illinois and Tigermilk. In other words, the more likely you are to use music as a social lubricant than as a social balm, the more likely you are to enjoy the Hold Steady.