As The Thermals walked onto the stage, the crowd at Newport Music Hall in Columbus were already pretty drunk in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. What they got was a pretty rousing show from a band that seemed to be heading into the same drunken stupor. Tearing through about 45 minutes to an hours' worth of two minutes songs, my immediate comparison was if the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle was in punk band. Overall a really terrific set.
The Thermals - No Culture Icons
The Thermals - Pillar of Salt
When the Hold Steady swaggered onto the stage (complete with two six packs of Bud and half a bottle of Jim Bean), the crowd went absolutely nuts. I mean like way beyond the normal "Whoo! The band I paid $17 to see is here" type of crazy. Launching into "Stuck Between Stations," Craig Finn and the gang displayed why they hold the title of "the greatest bar band" in indie rock as they covered all the big songs from "Boys and Girls in America" and "Separation Sunday" and even played a few from "The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me." Finn (with a brand new beard) prophesied at the mic like a lunatic and shared his abysmal luck with college basketball, making the large crowd seem like 12 guys in a bar at 2 in the morning. This show will stand out for me as one of the best true rock shows I've ever seen.
The Hold Steady - Your Little Hoodrat Friend
(All Pictures by Pat Hunt. For more, click here.)
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