08/06 The Hold Steady @ The Parish

In front of a sell out crowd at The Parish on Wednesday night, Brooklyn’s finest The Hold Steady set off some M80’s with their raucous set-opener “Constructive Summer.” “We’re gonna build something this summer,” declared frontman Craig Finn as the “party pit” stumbled their way to the front of the stage. Touring in support of Stay Positive, the gang was sharper than keyboardist Franz Nicolay’s on-stage attire and brought a steady flow of beer-drinking, pot-smoking, Max Weinberg-lovin’, ass-shaking rock ‘n’ roll. This was my third time seeing The Hold Steady and by far, their best show in Austin yet. A lot had to do with the Parish’s flawless acoustics and the band’s diverse choice of songs for the evening (review and set list after the jump). Read more

The Hold Steady – Stay Positive

The Hold Steady are following the recent trend of bands streaming full albums on their myspace page after the album has leaked everywhere online. Listen to The Hold Steady – Stay Positive on their myspace page before the actual release date on July 17th and tell us what you think about it. Also, the band will be coming to La Zona Rosa in Austin later this summer on August 6th. The Hold Steady are one of the best live rock acts around so I suggest you buy tickets to the show before it sells out. After the success of the critically acclaimed 2006 album Boys and Girls in America the new Hold Steady album should be better than good.