Trying to Stay Positive

Craig Finn, pre-crowd surf (by Gary Miller)

Last night’s sold out show at the Parish was a study in contradictions. As expected, Brooklyn’s the Hold Steady brought the rambling, shambling rock, but there was lots to puzzle over. First, lead singer Craig Finn is the anti-rock star, a bespectacled schlub with a whiny voice that never really sings.

That’s part of the quintet’s charm, though. It allows them to stand apart from others with a big love for 1980s arena rock. On record, this comes across as unadorned affection for Bruce Springsteen, with Finn’s lyrics telling similar tales of rebels and down-and-outers. In person most of the nuance was lost to the caverns of the Parish’s sound system.

What remained was discharge of unrelenting power with little between song banter. There was plenty of goofy posing and off-kilter riffs, bringing to mind such disparate influences as Queen and the Replacements, which kept the sweaty faithful pogoing, pumping their fists and screaming along. Near the set’s end, the title track to their latest LP, Stay Positive, seemed like the moment of glory they'd been building to, with Finn beaming and a near mosh pit upfront. Despite the mutual affection, there wasn’t a huge uproar as the band closed the set. Do people just expect an encore these days? Of course THS returned for more, rounding out the set to just about 90 minutes of unrefined energy. No one left disappointed, except maybe those expecting the subtleties of their records brought to life.