Daily Riot Fest Roundup

Hey everyone, Craig here…We’re back home and, probably like many of you, still recovering from the THS shows in Chicago this past weekend. Honestly, I knew we were going to have a real good time together, but the weekend exceeded our wildest expectations. The Hold Steady have always loved playing Chicago, especially in the summertime, but this was something extra special. Chicago was WIRED! Some highlights:Thursday we kicked it off at Thalia Hall. The venue is absolutely amazing, one of the best in the country, I think. The staff was super accommodating, the room was beautiful, and the stage sound was great. We always love a stage with a big hippie rug, so that makes us especially happy. We entered the stage to “Sweet Home Chicago” by the Blues Brothers and opened with “Stuck Between Stations”. We got in “You Gotta Dance”, which we hadn’t played in quite a while. At the top of the encore our longtime friend Cory proposed to his girlfriend Camie, which was beautiful. Jason Narducy (Split Single) and Kelly Hogan joined us for “Chillout Tent” and then helped us with a version of Cheap Trick’s “Southern Girls” which we changed to “Chicago Girls” because why not? All in all a great evening, and a great start to the weekend. Friday we ran around a bit and also did a Q&A thing with The A.V. Club at the very cool Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. We had a private soundcheck jam for some fans and hung out a bit at the venue. My friend Mary Timony opened the show playing songs from her 90s band Helium, which was super cool. She’s an incredible guitarist and we were all so happy to have her on board. Friday’s show felt great and the crowd was great. A decent amount of confetti got thrown around. Downstairs the band had encouraged me to go sleeveless for the encore, and it felt right. I’ve never worn a sleeveless shirt before but it seemed like a good time for new things. Started the encore with “Oaks” which hasn’t been played in forever. Then we did Wilco's “I’m The Man That Loves You”, the second cover in a row by a Chicago band. You sense a theme? Mosh, Pit Josh came up and destroyed “Stay Positive” and we ended with Killer Parties and it was a killer party, indeed. Saturday we moved over to The Empty Bottle. The Bottle had only hosted one previous THS show but had been very supportive of Tad and I’s old band Lifter Puller so we were happy to be doing this event in honor of their 25th Anniversary (!!!). Going in we were all concerned about the stage size, but we actually fit everything up there fine. Locals Varsity did a great opening set and then we hit the stage to the sounds of Naked Raygun”s “Rat Patrol”. We opened with “Positive Jam” and then it was off. It was hot. It was sweaty. It was loud. There were buckets of confetti. It was everywhere. (In fact I just found a piece on my this morning and I’ve taken two showers since then.). Some fans had declared it “Sleeveless Saturday” so I asked Steve to rip the sleeves off my shirt on stage to start the encore. A bit of a wardrobe malfunction occurred, another first for me. We did "212 Margarita" which was another rare one, and then a ridiculous run through Styx’s “Too Much Time on My Hands”. (Styx was my first rock concert, some things come full circle). Mosh Pit Josh crushed again on “Stay Positive” and we took the weekend home with “Killer Parties” and a stage invasion. I have to tell you, a cold can of Old Style tastes pretty great after that set.Thanks to everyone who came out and made three days of CHICAGO SEEMED WIRED LAST NIGHT a smashing success. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into it, and we are so happy that all of you were able to make it out. Stay tuned for more…Stay Positive!The Hold SteadyHere's the video of Camie and Cory's engagement!

Posted by The Hold Steady on Thursday, June 22, 2017