The Hold Steady at The Shepherd's Bush Empire

The Hold Steady at The Shepherd's Bush Empire

21 February, 2011
by: SpoonfedMeg

Indie rock? Err more like awesome dad rock...

With the likes of Justin Bieber, autotuned gangsta rappers and pop stars who put more emphasis on their hats than their music dominating the charts these days, you might be forgiven for wondering whether classic rock and roll still has a place in our modern, no-trends-lasts-longer-than-15-minutes world. Thankfully, at least one band is looking to fight back and prove that music can be more than one self-serving, airline meal pop-fest. They’re called The Hold Steady and tonight they’re playing to a full house at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

As with any American act that has its roots firmly planted in the classic rock shrubbery, the instant comparison anyone makes when they’re describing the Hold Steady is with Bruce Springsteen. It’s not totally out there – their album recordings in particular echo the vocal style of The Boss and the carefully constructed instrumental backing seems as important as the lyrics – something quite refreshing when most new music is three chords and a synthesiser.

However, the comparison starts to fall down as soon as anyone claps eyes on the Brooklyn natives. Instead of the haggard, vest-loving rockers you’d expect to be staring at, the young Hold Steady could arguably pass for the college AV club with their love of flannel shirts and charmingly geeky dispositions. Bespectacled lead singer Craig Finn takes the stage looking as excited – perhaps more so – than the audience and proceeds to spend the rest of the show jumping around the stage in almost frantic delight at the attention and pure love of performing.

Seeing that most of the crowd is made up of similarly attired, checked shirt-loving beardy types, the enthusiasm catches on pretty quickly. The Hold Steady aren’t exactly the unknown indie retro rock band that Craig Finn started back in 2003 – and as the band dynamite their way through songs from their various albums, including ‘Constructive Summer', ‘Weekenders', and ‘The Sweet Part of the City', the packed house sings along. Clearly there are a lot more Hold Steady fans in London than last time I checked.

Enigmatically, Finn and his bandmates refrain almost entirely from any banter about the songs, the audience or the band itself, but the evening isn’t devoid of spoken word. While these songs have a more melodic feel in their album version, Finn’s delivery feels like a slam poetry session set to a killer guitar riff, powering up the vocals with an intensity that is only hinted at in the albums. It’s a treat for fans that this is a band that adds a whole new level to their music during live shows.

An hour later, the audience pour out onto Shepherd’s Bush Green feeling jubilant and suffused with more rock and roll than the average Jaguar driver’s record collection. You know, perhaps we are due a resurgence of rock, but while we’re waiting, the Hold Steady have got it covered.

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SpoonfedMeg