Last night The Hold Steady rolled into Austin with touring mates Art Brut and 1990s. Much has been made about this tour because of the similarities between The Hold Steady in Art Brut. Both bands possess similar styles in delivering their message to audience. Craig Finn and Eddie Argos have the innate ability to use humor with the absences of irony in the delivery of their true to life lyrics. Then there’s the energy that both bands exude each time they perform, oh the energy.

Going into The Hold Steady show I expected to see a bunch of overly excited thirty-somethings high-fiving one another and spilling beer all over the place. I mean that’s the MO of a Hold Steady crowd, right? Well, while that was definitely present amongst the attendees of last night’s show, but I noticed that more often than not everyone there was a having a really good time regardless of their age or blood alcohol level. I think the crowd may have inspired the band to join in the festivities because Craig and company indulged themselves with more than a little booze of their own. If you’ve ever been to a Hold Steady show, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The Hold Steady definitely delivered for the fans the Austin faithful. They even treated us to three new songs, all of which sounded solid. I love watching bands that truly seem to enjoy performing in front of an audience.

Art Brut delivered another one of their patented high energy live shows. These guys, especially frontman Eddie Argos, are entertainers of the highest degree. I’ve seen them three times now and every time they bring it. How they play with that much energy night in and night out is beyond me. Let me just paint a picture for you in case you’re one the misfortunate ones who’s missed out on or slept through an Art Brut show (cough cough, Lexi) . Eddie runs around stage (and the crowd) like a reckless teenager, jumping rope with his microphone and somehow losing his shirt in the process, while the rest of the band plays behind him the same amount of youthful exuberance displayed by their fearless frontman. It is definitely a sight to behold.

Glasgow’s own 1990s turned in a solid set of hook-filled, throwback jams from from their solid debut release entitled Cookies. Think Velvet Underground meets Rolling Stones. I think they gained more than a couple of new fans after their performance. It was the perfect crowd to display their up-tempo, party-rock style of rock and roll to.

The Hold Steady – Southtown Girls (mp3)
Art Brut – Good Weekend (mp3)
1990s – You Made Me Like It (mp3)

1990s

Art Brut

The Hold Steady