dbt vs hs

let me say this from the start. terminal 5 is an awful venue. bad sound (if you gotta do it, hit the second floor, somewhat better). a glorified airplane hangar. i know this show was probably a bigger drinkin crowd than normal ... but bar and pisser lines were woodstock(the famous one)-esque.

missed the truckers opening tunes, but hit "man i shot" (which i'd played 3x en route)! a blase mode until they woke again with "zip city" (cooley is rock personified). missed the intro to "wallace" (PISSER LINE!!!) which apparently reduced friends to tears. rest of show typical DBT rock fest, and by typical i mean the best rock show on the planet. "puttin people on the moon" came and the place was crazy, then nuthin ... oh yeah, opener. sad. alot of friends went on thursday when they headlined. gone are the days when i see great bands open.

was interested to see the headlining Hold Steady. i haven't seen them live since '02. pre-fame, pre-albums, etc. i am a hold steady fan. "boys and girls" was a huge fave and 'sequestered' is still my fave song of '08. opening 'summer' was pretty great. they followed with other rockers like 'chips ahoy' (another fave). i was stunned. they've grown into an amazing live band. finn is a great leader (less woody allen, more stephen colbert). ultimately though, they've only got the rockers.

i've always felt their reach ends with the rockers. the other 'stretching' songs always seem forced, and live it's even more pointed. finn works his ass off, and the fans respond like an english football crowd, but after a few songs you feel as if you've walked into an office party where you don't work. 1.5 hours is too much.

the "bruce is gonna play" talk was abuzz as the encores set in. never happened. a cute 'history lesson- part II' (hold steady version) ensued, and patterson and the 'other' guitar player came out, but that and some classic rock karaoke ended the evening. i ain't complainin.

... and my cab driver decided that spring street is an acceptable cross to the east side. $30.