The Hold Steady vs. Lightning Rod

If it's physically possible for an indie rock band to draw energy in on themselves, I'd wager that The Hold Steady hold the patent for the technology.

What started out a typical Tuesday evening performance at Great American Music Hall quickly became an electric night of stage diving; climbing all over equipment; pounding whiskey, wine and beer; welcoming half the audience to the stage to play instruments and dance, and finally loading their equipment, heading to the Hemlock, and closing down the joint as fights broke out on the sidewalk.

All the while, the night seem to be hurtling forward on the kinetic fuel supplied by the band. I'll admit, I'm merely a casual fan of their music. They don't fall anywhere near the top of my bands-to-see list. But by 2 a.m., I was buying into the whole deal.

In the course of four hours, we watched guitarist Tad Kubler dive into the crowd, get handed a beer by someone in the balcony as he stood atop the speaker system, and later help singer Craig Finn pull dozens of people onto the stage handing several of them guitars to play. My good friend out at the beach managed to get in a few licks before all was said and done. We then learned that the spastic energy on stage came from a laid back and down-to-earth group of guys who invited a few of us over to the Hemlock to get some drinks with them, where finally we got to break up a real knock-down, drag out fight while closing down the joint.

What more can you ask for from a night of rock 'n roll? I can think of a few things, but we'll leave those for another Tuesday. Maybe next time The Hold Steady come to town.