The Hold Steady almost kills me in Northampton

I think I mentioned that I went to see the Hold Steady last week in Northampton, really fantastic show and kind of a surprise, since I’ve been a little bit off the Hold Steady since Separation Sunday.

It seems to me that the Hold Steady have sacrificed the difficulty and complexity of their earlier records for the more anthemic, crowd-pleasing sound of their live show. But while this may prevent them from ever making another album as brilliant as Separation Sunday, it does make their performances pretty riveting. Anyway, here’s the review.

I gave it nine stars, which is something I hardly ever do.

There are some pretty wonderful photos by Oliver Scott Snure, too.