The Hold Steady, aka America’s bar band, spent the beginning of June capping off a three-night residency in Seattle at the Crocodile and Madame Lou’s.
The residency was part of the Hold Steady’s annual Constructive Summer series of regional residencies where the band sets up shop in a city for a series of concerts and events. Last year the west coast residency took place in Portland and the last time the band played a residency in Seattle was in 2019.
This residency felt a little different than the last time they were in town due to size of the room being larger. The 2019 residency was held at the Crocodile’s previous location, which had a bit more personality than the Crocodile’s current digs and smaller capacity. I didn’t attend this year’s lone residency show at the smaller Madame Lou’s on Thursday evening for Pearl Jam reasons (insert “Rock Problems” joke here), so perhaps that show better captured the more intimate feeling of the group’s 2019 engagement.
But really, size didn’t matter when the group kicked things into high gear with their classic material. They’re a well-oiled rock ‘n’ roll machine and know what the crowd wants and when to give it to them. Singer Craig Finn continues to be one of the most engaging and animated frontmen in rock, gesturing and yelling at the crowd off mic between verses. His enthusiasm for being on stage is infectious and made sure everyone left feeling like they got their money’s worth.
There were plenty of great moments during both shows, including the rarities “Spinners” and “Oaks” sneaking into a setlist and the lovely “We Can Get Together” making it into an encore. The Saturday show was an all-ages affair, and watching moms and dads dance with young children wearing oversized headphones was almost as fun as watching Finn gesticulate all over the stage.
And as always, celebratory confetti came out to play during “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” which was especially great at the Crocodile because the venue had several “No glitter or confetti allowed” signs posted specifically for these shows. This of course prompted fans to bring what seemed like an extra amount of confetti that rained down onto the crowd near the song’s climatic end. The Hold Steady fans rock ‘n’ roll rebellion with confetti is the best kind of rebellion.
The openers for both shows at the Crocodile seemed like kindred spirits to the Hold Steady. Friday’s opener was Fleetwood Mac tribute act Wild Rumors. The classic rock vibe hits at the heart of the Hold Steady’s Springsteen storytelling songwriting approach. Appropriately, Finn dedicated THS cut “Stevie Nix” to the band. Saturday’s opener, Naked Giants, had a more harder edge appealing to the more rocking side of The Hold Steady’s nature.
