We try to be objective here at ELM. So while we’d happily categorise ourselves as fans of The Hold Steady, it doesn’t mean we’re blindly loyal to everything they do. Take frontman Craig Finn’s recent debut album Clear Heart Full Eyes. It’s not an essential record by any means. Oh, it’s good, but definitely not [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: Craig finn, jackson, the Hold Steady | Leave a Comment »
In these austere times, the prevailing logic of government seems to be ‘do more with less’. As services get cut, there is a promise that it’s the inessential which will go, that we’ll still have a recognisably efficient public service on offer. Only time will tell if this is achievable. Can you really cut back [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: Craig finn, franz nicolay, heaven is whenever, Hold Steady, hold steady glasgow, the Hold Steady | Leave a Comment »
Recent ELM interviewee Franz Nicolay announced his departure from The Hold Steady yesterday. On his website, the multi-instrumentalist said “”You should know: I’ve left the Hold Steady. I told the band I’d be leaving in early September, played my last show with them in Minneapolis around Thanksgiving, and dotted the t’s and crossed the i’s [...]
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Rock stars these days are, not to put too fine a point on it, dull. They come from nice homes and do Business Studies at the local ex-poly before getting on the Radio 2 playlist and starting to pretend to care about Fair Trade farmers. Their uniform blandness is offensive. Thankfully, the odd few still [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: demander, franz nicolay, major general, Pop, rock, the Hold Steady | 3 Comments »
Ah, dear Franz Nicolay. Erstwhile keyboard player/soul of the Hold Steady, he released a very wonderful solo album recently and supported Eitzel on his recent tour. It is undoubtedly the best one-man guitar/accordion/banjo show you will see. Here he is performing ‘Jeff Penalty’, a song detailing the time he was asked to support the Dead [...]
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‘It’s cool to do these shows’ muses frontman Craig Finn. ‘We’ve been out on tour supporting Counting Crows and that’s been great. But it’s really nice to play in front of…’ he pauses and thinks for the most appropriate term ‘…your own people.’ That this literate, ambitious barroom band inspire such devotion among their fanbase [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: hold steady in leeds, hold steady live, leeds cockpit, leeds music, li, live reviews leeds, the Hold Steady | 2 Comments »
E-Streeter checks out the ELM favourites; Quite simply, it is a crime against the Gods of Music that a band as good as The Hold Steady are playing a theatrical armpit like the Oxford ‘Carling’ (translation: plastic beakers and £4 per pint of fizzy dishwater) Academy on a Monday night in December to about 500 [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: Craig finn, hold steady oxford, hold steady stay positive, Sequestered in memphis, the Hold Steady, the hold steady live | Leave a Comment »
The Hold Steady play Glasgow tonight and yes, of course I am going. I’m then, rather tragically, trooping round England to see them with my equally sad friend to such hotspots as Wolverhampton and Bristol. It is, as they say, 24/7 round these parts. What is it about rock music that does this to us? [...]
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By contributor Scant Regard; Simple, sometimes unknown, pleasures. People, I have some bad news. This will not be another of my misanthropic rants. There are no eff or c words here. I’ve just experienced something very unfamiliar; an epiphany, if you will. Let me explain. Through a series of SNAFUs too tedious to explain here, [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: alone, bloodhound gang, Bright Eyes, bruce Springsteen, heart, my morning jacket, neutral milk hotel, paul mccartney, pil, stars, the Hold Steady, the little ones | 4 Comments »
‘So you all up for a good time?’ asks Craig Finn laconically as his band take to the stage in the small but perfectly formed Carling Academy 2. It’s a redundant question – Newcastle on a Friday night is always up for a party, even more so when hosting the mighty Minneapolis combo. It’s a [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: Live, newcastle, springsteen, Stay Positive, the Hold Steady | 1 Comment »
