Photos: The Hold Steady finally make their 7th St Entry debut
by Jay Gabler
October 15, 2018
I’m not entirely sure where the confetti came from, but it was well-deserved.
In the second of two sold-out sets at the 7th St Entry, beloved rock band the Hold Steady — along with their enthusiastic, beer-loving fans — shouted, strutted, and sweated through a powerhouse 85-minute set. (The previous day, the band played the much higher-capacity SurlyFest.)
The Brooklyn band radiated camaraderie, befitting the cramped setting. Frontman Craig Finn, a Minnesota native, was eager to mention multiple times that their 9:30 p.m. set was only their second ever in the Entry (the first was the earlier, all-ages, show), the local hotspot they somehow missed during their rise to fame in the century's first decade.
“The first show I saw here was the Replacements…the second was Soul Asylum…I was maybe 14…and it’s all been downhill from there,” said the smiling Finn, who'd played the venue with his previous band Lifter Puller. That grin seemed to widen with every passing song, as his glasses fogged up and the sweat began to pour.
For the devoted, it was surely a night to remember — even you were one of the poor souls crammed in the back of the venue with no hope of seeing anything on stage. The music and vibe seemed to be enough for most. Whatever’s next for the Hold Steady, I hope it’s a future filled with stage floors covered in beer, sweat, and confetti.