Posted on January 22, 2010 by extremelisteningmode
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 [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: franz nicolay, the Hold Steady | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 7, 2010 by extremelisteningmode
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 exist [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: demander, franz nicolay, major general, Pop, rock, the Hold Steady | 3 Comments »
Posted on November 11, 2009 by extremelisteningmode
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 Kennedys, [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: franz nicolay, jeff penalty, mark eitzel, the Hold Steady | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 21, 2009 by extremelisteningmode
‘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 will [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: hold steady in leeds, hold steady live, leeds cockpit, leeds music, li, live reviews leeds, the Hold Steady | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 9, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
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 people. [...]
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 »
Posted on October 1, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
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? Is [...]
Filed under: gigs | Tagged: gigs, the Hold Steady, the hold steady live, tour | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 23, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
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, I have found [...]
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 »
Posted on July 14, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
‘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 »
Posted on July 8, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
‘Where are the songs about boozers and builders, banning the bomb and abusing the children?’
Carter USM – Do Re Mi, So Far So Good (1992)
ELM, musically speaking, has a sweet tooth. Things that are wrong for you, things you should know better, we are there. Mass produced, music for the masses? We don’t have a [...]
Filed under: General Stuff | Tagged: bragg, issues, lyrics, Morrissey, music, Pop, richmond fontaine, the Hold Steady | 9 Comments »
Posted on July 2, 2008 by extremelisteningmode
Few albums arrive as fully formed and perfect as The Hold Steady’s 2006 effort ‘Boys In Girls In America’. It really was, and remains, a staggering piece of work, A collection of almost perfect rock’n’roll songs which reminded you why you loved American music in the first place. They had been building towards such a [...]
Filed under: New Albums | Tagged: constructive summer, Sequestered in memphis, Stay Positive, the Hold Steady | 5 Comments »