EDIT: Tonight's show is SOLD OUT!

God it's going to be fun.

Labels: Awesomeness, Awesometown, The Hold Steady, The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, The Slowdown, Work Tomorrow Is Gonna Suck

There are two reasons for the post. The first is to move that damn UK picture down so that I do not have to look at it every time I open the page. The second is to talk about the alcohol fuel week coming up.

I am sure most of you have heard that I will not be attending the Master’s this year. To show my displeasure of the decision made, I have decided to take the week off. . .and my what a week it is going to be.

Friday – 4:00 Tee Time at local bar asleep by 9:45. I do not know if it is the weather, but the barmaid has become even more liberal with charging for drinks. Last week I walked out fully cocked. . .bar tab $17.00. There is nothing better than a barmaid so unhappy with their job that they are willing to give away the farm.

Saturday – Something about the Final Four and a Party at Barrett’s you are invited.

Sunday – Football Game at 1:00, Nap at 3:00, and Philly’s Braves game that night.

Monday – Opening Day of Baseball presumably at Barrett’s (McFly’s may get a visit as well)

Tuesday – Recovery and thinking about making a run to Central Iowa to see the MIB and his new package.

Wednesday – Golf (weather pending) and black out drinking at a concert (The Hold Steady)

Thursday – Recovery, Day one of the Masters, and class

Friday and Saturday – Bloomfield America with my bride to be

Sunday – Ride back to Omaha listening to the silky smooth voice of Denny Mathews calling the Royals vs Yankee game.

Labels: Auburn Football, Barry O's, Birthday, Bloomfield America, Denny Mathews, Golf, MIB, The Hold Steady, why god why?

Click here to download last week's show.

And for next week...our much-anticipated interview with Tad Kubler, lead guitarist (and Knicks fanatic) of The Hold Steady!

Thanks to everyone calling in, texting, and e-mailing new breakfast suggestions...

Labels: Tad Kubler, The Hold Steady, The Weekly Grind

Labels: The Hold Steady, The Weekly Grind

Tickets on sale today (Friday)!!!!

God bless it, Hold Steady: why can't you play on a weekend night?

To say that we're excited is an understatement.

(Tickets are only $15.)

Labels: The Hold Steady, The Slowdown

Even better news: the artist, Christopher Halbkat--who appears to be incredibly talented--has agreed to print some up for us! Here's the specs:

Glad you like the poster! Yeah, The Hold Steady was a heavy show & I'd be
happy to print some more posters for you and the crew.

About Each Print: $25.00 / Signed & Numbered

Printed digital offset with archival-pigmented ink on acid-free Etching
paper, which has the subtle texture of an etching paper and a soft white tone.

Print Size is 12"x 18" including the 0.25" border for framing.

It is much more cost effective to print more than one at a time so If your
interested in more than one I can sell you four prints @ $75.

Let me know and I will email you a Paypal Invoice, Thanks much!

So there you go: if 4 people will purchase one, they are only $18.75. Pete and I are already down for orders, and I was going to purchase another one for when Sgt. Hales returns.

If there are any takers, leave it in the comments or get a hold of me. I want to order these ASAP, so please decide soon.

Labels: Bemis Press, Christopher Halbkat, Concert Posters, Sokol Underground, The Hold Steady

So last night I continued my futile search for a poster commemorating when The Hold Steady played at the Sokol Underground in Omaha, back on May 20, 2007.

Great "I'm totally into this song right now" rock concert face.

Anyway, I thought those were kind of cool. More importantly, it reminded me of that day/night, easily one of the most fun days ever. Ahh, memories.

In the meantime...1% Productions, get these guys back in Omaha!!!!!

Labels: good times, Sokol Underground, The Hold Steady

I saw a link to this at Joe Posnanski's blog, which is probably my favorite blog ever, all things considered. Seriously, the fact that a guy this talented who obviously can make a good living writing is generous enough to give us these kinds of efforts for free is miraculous and awe-inspiring.

Anyway, I saw this interview with Craig Finn that is all about baseball and is really great. He's a huge fan of the Twins and not only knows his shit, he regales us with stories about Paul Westerberg that simply kick ass. Great times, and "Stay Positive" is unbelievable. I'm not sure that it tops "Boys and Girls" but it's pretty amazing for the most part. At least four or five of the songs are as good as anything they've done. I give it a 9.1 out of 10. (Boys and Girls I would give a 9.8 out of 10)

They are The Official Band of Heavy Soul. It's decidedly so.

Labels: Craig Finn, Joe Posnanski, Minnesota Twins, The Hold Steady

Go buy it, you cheap ass!

Labels: iTunes, Stay Positive, The Hold Steady

That's right, my peoples. Sunday Night Links is a running feature on Heavy Soul, if "running" means "once or twice." Without further ado...

--First of all, everyone at Heavy Soul hopes that everyone was alright after last night's EF-2 tornado here in Omaha. I know that Hales and I were right below a funnel cloud here in the Dundee/Country Club area, but thank God it never touched down. People in Millard, unfortunately, were not so lucky. Here's to a quick response from your insurance company and a speedy recovery.

--Am I the only person around here needing a late pass in regards to the movie "The Rocker?" Coming out in August, it's a movie about a former '80's rock drummer who gets a second shot at stardom with his nephew's band (A.D.D.). It stars Rainn Wilson and Demitri Martin, which is an absolute home run combo. Not to mention Emma Stone who is, in a word, hot.

--Speaking of home run comedians, Todd Barry is playing The Slowdown! July 9th--tickets are only $12! Seriously, if you enjoy stand-up comedy whatsoever, you need to be there. Barry is absolutely hilarious, and his new material on his new album From Heaven is great.

--An interesting quick read on Charles Barkley and his ability to do whatever he wants and never deal with the repercussions that most people in the public eye suffer. I guess it's pretty obvious--be honest, don't rely on ridiculous PR people--but you'd think that more people in the public spotlight would take his lead.

--Another great piece from last week's Sports Illustrated (why don't I subscribe to this magazine again?) on the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton. Pretty incredible story; here's to hoping the guy stays on the straight and narrow. Between Dusty Baker and the Reds letting Hamilton go for nothing, I'm guessing Cincinnati fans are feeling pretty good about life these days.

--I can't remember where I saw this, so you may have seen it already, but here's a link to a story about the new adidas KG Commander KG NBA Finals Sneaker. It's all yours...if you can find it at retail, and if you can pony up the $1,017 to buy them. They are only producing 8 pairs per game of the Finals. I'm a big sneaker dork (which is kind of funny, considering I never buy them--I'm a big browser), but this shit is getting crazy.

--Here's an early, er, "review" of The Hold Steady's Stay Positive from Stereogum. I'm holding off on my review because, well, I just haven't had time to do it yet. This guy is probably a bit rough on it, although it sounds similar to pete's first impressions. Personally, the more I have listened to it, the more I love it. The one place we totally agree on: the first track ("Constructive Summer") is absolutely the best track on the album. That song hits you right in the proverbial nuts, but unlike when it happens in real life, you feel pretty good about it.

--Here is an incredible story about Dov Charney, American Apparel's CEO and Founder. It goes into detail about how this creep forces female employees to masturbate and do other unsavory things in order to keep their job (not to mention the obnoxious drug culture that is involved there). Reading the stories about this guy, it is officially "uncool" to buy their shit t-shirts. I hope.

--It's College World Series time! Here's a nice article on Georgia's coach David Perno, who has been involved in 4 of 5 of Georgia's 6 CWS experiences. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution believes he could end up being one of the best coaches in college baseball of all time.

That might be about it. Hiding out in the basement at 3am this morning and staying up until about 5am watching the storms come in and out of the neighborhood pretty much killed me today, and I'm not even sure how the hell I'm awake.

Hope everyone has a neat-o Monday!

Labels: American Apparel, Charles Barkley, College World Series, Demitri Martin, Josh Hamilton, MLB, Omaha, Rainn Wilson, Sunday Links, The Hold Steady, The Rocker, The Slowdown, Todd Barry

Taken from a recent update on The Hold Steady's website:

"Don't know the air date yet. Look for Mr. [lead singer Craig] Finn as the guest on Kent Hrbek's fishing show."

That's right. The lead singer of The Hold Steady is a guest on an upcoming episode of Kent Hrbek Outdoors, which Kent takes him out fishing.

How are these guys indie critical darlings based out of Brooklyn, again?

I love this band.

A couple of other notes:

1. Download the free podcast from KEXP (in NYC), which is 20 minutes long and features some live THS tunes. Good stuff.

2. Some disappointing news: despite the pleading of the Omaha music community--mainly, GA Hill e-mailing the generic THS e-mail address--they are not going to come to town again this tour. HOWEVER, they are playing in Lawrence November 13th. Of course, this is a school night, but it might be worth it. Let it be known in the comments if you are interested.

Good news for the Chi-City Heavy Soulers--THS is playing the Metro October 30th and 31st. You lucky bastards. npgage, you better not miss both of these shows. You'll love 'em.

Labels: Awesomeness, MP3's, The Hold Steady

I would like to think sometime after The Hold Steady played their (in these parts) legendary Omaha show at the Sokol Underground.

I found this interview actually looking for some live sets from Bonnaroo from this weekend--the "superjam" they have every year consisted of ?uestlove, Ben Harper, and John Paul Jones, which is as cool as it fucking gets for me--and found this Hold Steady interview. Read the questions and answers, and then ask yourself...is he talking about us? Or, more specifically, MIB?

H. A BRIEF INTERLUDE ABOUT THE CROWDS AT HOLD STEADY SHOWS

CRAIG: Dudes will be misbehaving and their girlfriends won’t even be there. That’s the Hold Steady crowd—tons of drunk dudes and then the girls that are there are totally pissed. I think it’s getting better. Like more chicks.

HAPPIER CHICKS?

CRAIG: Yeah. The smaller shows, there’s always some dude totally into it. He’s pumping his fists, and he’s pretty drunk and then his chick is just like pissed that they’re there. I think they come to the show kinda drunk and then they get drunker. A lot of dudes are doing shots with their buddies.

WHAT’S THE HARD LIQUOR OF CHOICE?

CRAIG: In the dressing room, it’s Jim Beam, but I think dudes are into tequila. A Hold Steady show is a show where you take the next day off of work. No one’s even fooling themselves. Which is a good feeling. Clubs have always told us that our liquor sales are really good for the amount of people that are there.

WHY?

CRAIG: I think the music supports partying in a positive way. Most people can feel good and forget their problems. There’s definitely a culture. I think the band drinks a lot. There’s a lot of drinking on stage. I drink Bud or Coronas. The big thing I have learned is the way it works best is to not drink until about ten minutes before we go on, and then to drink as much as possible while we’re on stage. I have to sing a lot, so there is physically not much time to drink. But I can drink a six-pack onstage. A lot of it spills. A lot of it is for show.

Labels: Awesomeness, Interviews, Sokol Underground, The Hold Steady