‘Heaven Is' Where the Hold Steady Are Playing

Craig Finn makes for an unlikely rock star. It’s partly his anti-hipster look --always sporting novelist eyeglasses and either a button-down shirt or a Twins T -- but more than that, it’s the vibe.

The energetic frontman for the Hold Steady brings a complete absence of cynicism and jaded rock attitude to every show, and Tuesday night at the Belly Up Tavern was no different. Finn is always joyful as he weaves complex lyrical tapestries, living out his heady narratives onstage with manic hand gestures and sprightly handclaps, mouthing lines off-mike like a shared secret between him and the audience.

The band has been around a while; Tuesday’s release of Heaven Is Whenever puts them five albums deep, but the Hold Steady's songs bridge generations. Their newest effort extends ongoing sagas of urban slackers with familiar themes of innocence and faith, drugs and parties, crushes and love; and anyone who is or was ever young can relate. Not to mention the fact that the lyrics are set against catchy, bar-band rock and anthemic, beer-spraying sing-alongs that can inject youthful energy into even the mellowest old burnout.

The only hushed moment on Tuesday night came from this tour’s version of “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” which devolved into a slow jam with dueling, liquid guitar solos. With the music held at a simmer, Finn went into some casual banter about the band’s hometown of Minneapolis, which turned out to be a calculated lead-in to an explosive, floodlit finale. Finn celebrated the album release with a rare cerveza and seemed giddy when the crowd shouted lyrics to the new stuff as enthusiastically as it did for older hits.

The band managed to fit in 9 out of the 10 songs from the new album (all but the alt-country Skynyrd homage “Sweet Part of the City”) before the encore by powering through the rocking set with few breaks.

Read more at Owl and Bear.

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