Oh man.....

I can't believe I missed this!!!!!

These are my guys right here! That's Craig Finn, leader of THE HOLD STEADY fulfilling his dream of singing with the Boss man himself at the Bruce Springsteen Tribute at Carnegie Hall last Thursday. This was at the end of the show when everyone who had performed came out to sing "Rosalita." It seems like such a joyous moment, I'm sad I missed so many great young singers with someone they look up to.

Here was the Setlist:
01 "Nebraska" (Steve Earle)
02 "Streets Of Philadelphia" (The Bacon Brothers)
03 "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" (Elysian Fields)
04 "The River" (Josh Ritter"
05 "Because The Night" (Patti Smith)
06 "The Rising" (Marah)
07 "My City's In Ruins" (The Holmes Brothers w/ Young Peoples Chorus)
08 "Brilliant Disguise" (Robin Holcombe)
09 "Spirit In The Night" (North Mississippi All-Stars)
10 "New York Serenade" (Uri Cane)
11 "Cover Me" (Juliana Hatfield)
12 "One Step Up" (Low Stars)
13 "Thunder Road" (Badly Drawn Boy)
14 "Born In The U.S.A." (Joseph Arthur)
15 "Dancin' In The Dark" (Pete Yorn)
16 "Hungry Heart" (Jesse Malin & Ronnie Spector)
17 "I'm Going Down" (M. Ward)
18. "57 Channels" (Odetta)
19 "Atlantic City" (The Hold Steady)
20 "The Promised Land" (The Boss)
21 "Rosalita" (The Boss)
22 "Rosalita" (Bruce Springsteen And The Finn Street Band)

I am dying to hear/see the Hold Steady's version of "Atlantic City" and Joseph Arthur's "Born in the USA"--really the whole thing. I'm not sure if they are going to be putting an album out, but I hope somebody posts some of these!

Quick Hold Steady aside: Paste put the them on the cover this month--good call guys. I like that mag, it has pretty pictures and you usually get a CD when you buy the print version so that's a bonus.


Here's the new video for Stuck Between Stations, one of the finest tracks off Boys and Girls in America. STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS - The Hold Steady


Pete Yorn also played his beautiful version of "Dancing in the Dark" which I kind sorta like better than the original (sorry dad).


Joseph Arthur, "Born in the U.S.A."

My dad said this was particularly excellent.

Odetta with her funny, half-spoken, half-sung version of "57 Channels:"


I'm desperately hoping some better YouTube videos and audio's of this come out, but until then, Stereogum has a list of vids here.

All these pics are from Fresh Bread who was there.

There's also a great NYT write-up here.

I would sigh and say, I'll be there next time, but this seemed like a once in a lifetime kinda deal. No matter, I've had plenty of my own share of amazing Bruce experiences, like these 2 songs here:
Valentines Day
Real World

On that note, Happy Easter and goodnight.

Take Me Out to the Twins Game

My favorite rockers The Hold Steady have recorded a version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for Craig Finn's favorite hometown team, the Twins.

The song is here, and a video of them recording is here.

Weekend Wrap-Up

How was everyone's weekend? Good, good. My friend Eliot visited and a rollicking great time was had by all. Here he is, making a deal, perhaps? I like how he is secure enough in his manliness to swill that fruity pink cocktail. Well played, my friend. I know they were delicious. Dan, with the flowing red locks in the background there, also made an appearance this weekend and to my great delight, he is now sporting a porn-star style handlebar moustache (unfortunately I was unable to document it but I'm sure he will, so maybe I can put it up in the future...) Again, well played, my boys.
In other news, I've had the Arcade Fire song,"Neon Bible" stuck in my head pretty much for the past 72 hours and I think I've infected several other people. It's really hypnotic--almost like a trance, and the symbolism is so original(well actually I think it comes from a John Kennedy Toole novel and there was also a movie) and poignant, it's hard to shake. Our culture is dictated by the neon signs of mega stores like Wal-Mart and the glow of computer screens, cell phones, etc. and we're all going to burn!

A vial of hope and a vial of pain,/in the light they both looked the same./Poured them out on into the world/on every boy and every girl./ It's in the Neon Bible, the Neon Bible/Not much chance for survival, if the Neon Bible is right."
Yikes...

We also saw Zodiac and despite it being like 5928340928734092387 hours long, it was pretty interesting and kind of creepy. This is a complaint I have about just about every movie I see--why give an audience what you can accomplish in 1.5 hours in 3? It doesn't take crack-squad of marketing geniuses to figure out that we all have A.D.D...Why else would we sit in front of the TV, texting our friends, while IMing on the computer and skimming our homework? I understand that at $10 a pop, film makers want to make sure the audience is getting what they paid for but, like in most things, being concise is key and also a lot more difficult. Anyway, the main point being, Zodiac, good film, even though it is too long. Excellent acting by Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. in the very fitting role of mad, drunken crime beat reporter.

Saw The Hold Steady in the Sunday Styles section--there's something to wrap your head around: The bar band, out at the bar, talking about how they still have to work their day jobs (at the bar) when they're not on tour...I don't know why I was surprised considering how the music industry works today, but I was.


Also, Wolf Parade might have new material sometime in the near future, according to Pitchfork. I love this band a lot, though you may not...It's really a love 'em or hate 'em kinda deal because the singers' voices can be kind of abrasive but I just think they're quirky and fun. 3 great songs from Apologies to the Queen Mary (via Subpop):
My Father's Son
Shine a Light
I'll Believe In Anything (Video)

Ok, off to radio class. Big post about the pioneering all black radio station, WDIA is forthcoming so people get ready!