The Hold Steady: Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club, New York, NY 9/17/11

Concert Confidential and EventbriteNYC got together last week and announced with the quickness a series of 5 simultaneous concerts across the country with proceeds and donations going to charity.  New York City were blessed with hometown heroes The Hold Steady who were announced as the headliners for Saturday Night’s shindig in downtown Manhattan.  It was short notice, and a quick turnaround but the Unified Scene was on hand to party with the boys for a worthy cause down by the South Street Seaport. 

Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club is a very hip venue perched right out on Pier 17 in the East River, it can make you forget you are right next door to a mall as you look out over three bridges, up at Manhattan and across to Brooklyn.  The band Caveman started things up musically this evening to a half full venue.  The Brooklyn band looked dapper and played a soothing style of noise/pop with a few Cure flourishes setting the scene for the headliners to take the stage and tear down the house.     

Opening with the Stay Positive outtake “Ask Her For Adderall” the band hit the sandy beach bar running.  They instantly got the first of many sing-a-longs started with “Massive Nights” as the crowd cheered and hopped around.  The group has a knack for persuading even the most adamant non-dancers in the crowd to cut loose; it impossible to not have a good time when the band is cutting into the night air with tales of honest debauchery and excitement.  

They pulled from all of their classic albums on this night, Almost Killed Me was repped by ‘The Swish” for all the long term fans, while “Hurricane J” and “Rock Problems” off of Heaven Is Whenever had Tad Kubler riffing heavy as did the bands cover of AC/DC’s “Ride On”.  A major version of “Girls Like Status” was an early set highlight with it’s all-to-real lyrics being administered by Craig Finn to the adoring crowd, who would not stop chanting along. 

Finn plays role of a Yankee Preacher who is lax on the rigged moral code, but full of the holy spirit.  He is a unique front-man who in the studio expresses his faith in humanity while weaving magic out of blurry end of night tales.  Live he is a Chaplinesque performer fumbling around while delivering his novel-like-songs through shakes and jitters. 

The rest of the band (and the venue in general) had a fantastic, vibrant, sound with the low end of Bobby Drake and Galen Polivka lock-step bumping on “Hot Soft Light” and “Stevie Nix” while guitarist Steve Selvidge added to the 6-string crescendo of “Lord, I’m Discouraged”.   The whole band is revving like a fine tuned Harley Fatboy as they reach the end of their current tour.  This hometown 23 song strong show had a mini-reunion feel to it, and everyone seemed to be watching the river flow and smiling as the group ended the night in winning fashion via “How A Resurrection Really Feels”, Hallelujah!

Setlist:
Ask Her For Adderall
Massive Nights
Constructive Summer
Hot Soft Light
Hurricane J
Girls Like Status
Sequestered in Memphis
The Swish
The Sweet Part of The City
You Can Make Him Like You
Rock Problems
Magazines
Chips Ahoy
Stuck Between Stations
Stevie Nix
Lord I’m Discouraged
The Weekenders
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
Southtown Girls
Slapped Actress
Encore:
Ride On [AC-DC Cover]
Stay Positive
How a Resurrection Really Feels

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