Bristol Carling Academy 2

A good friend of mine describe these lot as having a sort of, “dad” rock sound and if that’s the case pass me my slippers, pour me a “speckled hen” and send off my yearly subscription to the “Horse and Hound” magazine !

I’m not sure if the Academy 2 was ready for The Hold Steady judging by capacity crowd crammed into the corridor like venue but all the same it was on, and everyone there including me will be forever grateful. It was clear that this is a band not overly familiar to the majority of the audience on appearance as bass player “Galen Polivka” and the “Inspector Clousseau” looking keyboardist “Franz Nicolay” took it upon themselves to prep their instruments and a box of Budweiser for the evenings show.

In true rock fashion it’s the scruffy looking Chris Finch’s stage appearance that receives the biggest cheer as the men from Minneapolis launch into one of the most exciting and enthusiastic sets I’ve seen in a long time.  Don’t be fooled by the “supply teacher” look, these guys give it both barrels and then some. Opening riffs of “Stuck between Stations” take the roof off and sets the pace for the rest of the set much to the delight of the “John Lennon” looking guy hovering his bottle of lager over our photographer down in the photo pit!

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a group of “older” looking chaps fill a stage with such enthusiasm and passion for what they were putting out. Lyrically Chris Finch is an articulate educated master of words but in performance he resembles more of a 6 year old boy on half term after one too many “Dib Dabs”! A set compiled mainly from tunes off the UK debut “Boys and Girls in America” “Chips Ahoy” gets a great response and the crowds “ wah ooooo’s” along to “Massive nights” does nothing but add more sugar to The Hold Steady’s already infectious rush. An unusual live rendition of “Chill out Tent” along with “Southtown Girls” (that has probably fooled crowd sing alongs since it was first aired!) makes this set an absolute blinder.   

The encore makes my way for a pitch perfect “First Night” then it was back to the business of high energy, “good times” rock n roll Hold Steady style.  The evening is brought to a close with Chris Finch trying to thank and shake hands with everyone within reach, but really we all knew who should have been thanking who.

The Hold Steady we salute you.

Words by Neil photographs by Jay.