SXSW: the Hold Steady at Club DeVille

Worries persist as to whether or not we're going to be able to get in to see the Hold Steady at the Mohawk. Obviously, since we're without wristbands, the evening ahead could be hardy work. So we decide to start the day, at four p.m., in the dining room at Stubb's. Having put off nourishment for most of the day, we have nothing but barbecue on our minds. We eat in silence as plates of ribs get demolished. Sated (decimated is more like it), we contentedly walk outside to face the afternoon Austin sunshine and the metaphorical music should getting in to see the Hold Steady prove an impossibility.

Then it hits me: the sound of somebody playing the 'Steady's "Sequestered in Memphis" at top volume. I hum along as I think about how excited somebody must be to be playing it so early in the evening. Suddenly, the realization drops in on me: could that actually be the band playing?

Hurriedly, we wander over to a tented parking lot and peer through the chain link fence. Yes, indeedy, it would seem I'm watching the one band I took on faith was going to be here at SXSW this year. We watch through the fence for a song or two when Tyler nudges my arm. I turn to see that there is no line to get in. And miracle of all miracles, the show is free.

We enter the venue after one of us argues with some poor girl handing out promotional materials for Saucony. Not to sound defensive, but she did call us losers. I laugh at the whole experience and start inching my way towards the stage. The band plays a handful of older songs that I'm not yet familiar with as well as perennial live favorites like "Party Pit" and "Stuck Between Stations."

Craig Finn is all jittery and spastic nerves as he veers between singing and hitting those Joe Strummer chords on the guitar that he seems to so rarely use. His face seems to be torn between the emotions of intense euphorical joy and being completely overwhelmed at the enormity of it all.

Tad Kubler, the heavy metal guitarist stuck in a Springsteen band, looks different than I expected. In old photos, he looks doughy and bookish, as though he's entirely succumbed to middle age spread and its mentality. On stage, he is a lean rock and roll animal, adorned in a hip black polo with white trim. His arms, covered in rock ink, bash out lean heavy riffs while Finn does his best to preach to the choir.

On the opposite side of the stage, Galen Polivka and Franz Nicolay hold their own court. Polivka just bobs around as he holds the beat down for the rest of the band. In a few hours, I'll watch him blow out his bass amp at the Mohawk. He'll fidget with it for a few numbers before switching it out altogether for a different amp. Then he'll spend the rest of the evening drinking Lone Star tall boys and placing them on top of a sign on the amp. The sign will read "No Drinks Here!"

Nicolay, at both shows, jumps up and down in a furious pogo as he hits the keys with one hand. Refusing to be your typical keyboard player, he's dressed to the tee in a sharp white three piece suit and proves to be just as dynamic as their singer. That and he rocks a handlebar mustache. Hard to argue with that.

Finn prowls the stage, screaming and twitching and singing to audience- half the time without the mic. His joy is uncontainable as he encourages the audience to clap and sing along. It's great to hear so many voices sing "I'm gonna walk around and drink some more." Objectively, it's a sad line that speaks to the lost. Here, however, it's truly inspiring to hear the audience carry the song.

When it comes time to toast "St. Joe Strummer," Finn screams at the audience to "get 'em up!" Obligingly, a hundred fists pump up and down in unison to the beat. In this light, it's obvious that Finn and his crew are exactly where they belong: fans of the music preaching to their choir. The only difference between the band and their fans being the stage, everyone leaves with their faith renewed in this moment of pure rock and roll bliss.



your bitchin' mixtape for the hold steady at the mohawk:*

Positive Jam

Constructive Summer

unknown song

Sequestered in Memphis

Multitude of Casualties

Stevie Nix

One for the Cutters

Stuck Between Stations

Massive Nights

Party Pit

You Can Make Him Like You

Your Hoodrat Friend

Stay Positive

Southtown Girls

Slapped Actress

unknown song/Killer Parties


*as always, unknown songs should be replaced by your favorites.