Last Wednesday marked night one of The Hold Steady’s two consecutive sold out shows at the U Street Music Hall.
The band took the stage to a very loud and overly anxious crowd. People in the back of the room screamed and those by the stage waived their hands in the air with full-on devil horns as the band emerged from backstage and grabbed their instruments.
The Hold Steady’s front man and lead vocalist, Craig Finn smiled and dispensed his usual witty banter for a brief moment. This was only a small distraction as the band quickly broke into a steady flow of melodic guitar chords over Finn’s own brand of sharply spoken vocals which we’ve come to expect from the band from Brooklyn.
It was fantastic to see a band as established as The Hold Steady at a venue as intimate as the U Street Music Hall. If you missed both nights, I do think that with a new album in the works, they’ll be back soon. Highlights from the set list included “The Sweet Part of the City,” “Hot Soft Light,” and “The Swish.”
Photos by Richie Downs
