The Brooklyn indie-rockers delivered their raucous, bar-band magic in a career-spanning Pyramid Scheme show Wednesday; Malian guitarist-singer Toure fired up a small crowd at Wealthy Theatre Monday.
Pretty Sure They Partied: The Hold Steady pumped up The Pyramid Scheme on Wednesday night. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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We had a massive night.
The Hold Steady once billed itself as America’s best bar band, and nothing about the group’s performance Wednesday night in Grand Rapids suggested that title is even remotely in danger.
Near-Capacity Crowd: A ‘Massive Night’ to be sure. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Its career-spanning 90-minute set was a welcome reminder of the magic that can occur when the loudest possible riffs, the cheapest possible beers and the life-affirming-est possible lyrics collide. An informal poll of the dudes up front who became shirtless indicates this opinion was widely held.
The band has played Grand Rapids a few times throughout the years, hitting venues such as The Intersection and Calvin College, but never anywhere as well-suited to it as The Pyramid Scheme, which, just shy of being sold out, seems like it was constructed for precisely this kind of intimate, raucous show.
“I’m pretty sure we partied,” frontman Craig Finn spoke/sang during the encore-closing “Killer Parties,” off the band’s 2004 debut album “Almost Killed Me,” and at the end of the show, that observation was undeniably accurate.
Frontman: Craig Finn of The Hold Steady. (Photo/Katy Batdorff)
Finn and company are on the road celebrating the Hold Steady’s 10th year and the release of its very solid sixth album, “Teeth Dreams,” amply represented in the 20-song set by crackling cuts such as show opener “I Hope the Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You,” killer single “Spinners” and the ruminative “The Ambassador.”
The strike zone of the Hold Steady’s discography, the 2005 album “Separation Sunday,” 2006’s “Boys and Girls in America” 2008’s follow-up “Stay Positive” formed the show’s backbone. These songs — “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” “Chips Ahoy!,” “Stuck Between Stations,” “You Can Make Him Like You,” “Massive Nights,” “Constructive Summer” and so on — are perfect executions of the sort of rock the band helped re-popularize in the 2000s — sincere, narratively ambitious, unapologetically huge, heavily Springsteen-derived.
So Much Joy: The Hold Steady. (Photo/Katy Batdorff)
While departed keyboardist Franz Nicolay’s contributions were missed on renditions of the earlier stuff, the current three-guitar configuration still does the material justice.
I’ve seen the Hold Steady a handful of times at clubs and festivals alike, and Finn has ended every show by saying, “There is so much joy in what we do.” I’ve believed him every time, and more than ever on Wednesday.
Providing support was Lansing’s Cheap Girls, which has spent much of the year touring behind its excellent new album “Famous Graves.” Following a stint with Against Me!, the band has now completed a month-long outing with the Hold Steady, earning the chance to join the headliners onstage during their encore.
Things were a little fuzzy by then, but yes, I’m pretty sure we partied.
The Hold Steady kicked off the night with ‘I Hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You.’ (Photo/Anna Sink)
THE HOLD STEADY: SEPT. 10 PLAYLIST
‘LIVE AT WEALTHY’ TAKE 1: VIEUX FARKA TOURE
Sahara’s Hendrix: Vieux Farka Toure at Wealthy Theatre on Monday. (Photo/Tori Thomas)
Small but enthusiastic.
That’s how WCYE-FM (88.1) program director Matt Jarrells described the crowd Monday at the season’s first Live at Wealthy concert starring Malian guitarist-singer Vieux Farka Toure at Grand Rapids’ Wealthy Theatre.
Local Spins photographer Tori Thomas was on hand to capture the set by the so-called “Hendrix of the Sahara,” whose performance of African tunes with his band utilized electric guitar as well as native instruments, eliciting regular roars from the crowd. Some proceeds from the concert, by the way, benefited the new Ebony Road Players.
Next up in the Live at Wealthy series: Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne, who’ll perform at the theater with guitarist Keith Cotton on Oct. 16. Opening the concert will be Nashville’s Ruston Kelly. Advance tickets are $30; get tickets and more information online at grmc.org.
Read more about the series – which also features My Brightest Diamond and The Bad Plus – in this Local Spins story. – John Sinkevics, Tori Thomas
VIEUX FARKA TOURE: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tori Thomas
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