Live Review: The Hold Steady - 12/5/25 Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg NYC

The Hold Steady

12/5/25 Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg NYC

It is hard to believe The Hold Steady have been holding their annual Massive Nights celebration at Brooklyn Bowl for ten years now, since RtBE was there for the first one and we haven't missed a year since. 

Live Review: Craig Finn & The People of Substance Band - Bowery Ballroom, NYC 5/30/25

Craig Finn & The People of Substance Band

Live at Bowery Ballroom 

NYC, 5/30/25

To celebrate the release of his new album, Always Been, Craig Finn decided to throw a party with an all-star backing band at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday night May 30th. The sold-out crowd arrived early, packing the small downtown Manhattan venue.

Album Review: Craig Finn - Always Been

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of Craig Finn's newest release, Always Been. 

RtBE are long-time fans of Finn. This solo album finds him working with The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel. While it isn't a perfect pairing, there are some successes found on the record, and a few glaring misses. In the end, this is a Craig Finn solo album and by now people should be well aware of what they are in for. 

Support the artist, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

Year In Review 2024 - Favorite Live Shows

The live show is a slippery thing. There are lots of variables at play, most having little to do with the performance itself. Does the venue have enough bathrooms? Is it going to rain? What day of the week is it on? Did I have a shitty day at work before hand? Did tickets cost waaay too much? All of this can alter one's opinion of a live show before the band even tunes up and with reason. However, when the stars align, there is no place RtBE would rather be than in the moment of magic occurring spontaneously from the stage.

Live Music Has No Equal!

Taken By The Fantastic Megan Donohue

While obviously we can't see every show that is out there, we try to get out often to catch live music. Sure there are a few left in the calendar year, but for now, here is a listing of the best concerts we were fortunate enough to have caught in 2024.

There are links to show reviews in the titles, also because who doesn't love arbitrary rankings, one show at the bottom took the top prize as RtBE's 2024 Favorite Live Show. 

Live Review: The Hold Steady - Massive Nights 12/6/24 Brooklyn Bowl Williamsburg, NY

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'Here!!!

It is of the live show, Massive Nights by The Hold Steady. This is the ninth year of Massive Nights and RtBE have been to them all. This might have been the best musically as the band seemed to be really in synch and clicking.

Support the artists, read the review and peep some video below:

 

Year In Review 2023 - Favorite Albums of 2023

Here are our all of our favorite albums of 2023. This is the year end review, all in one place.

Below are our picks for RtBE's favorite albums of the year. It starts with our honorable mentions then moves into our top ten albums of the year. There is a short blurb about the album and a song from it, click on the title to read our full review of the selected records. The focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen to all the way through.

We worked with the Glide Staff on their list as well, so there may be a few overlaps if you read that already. 

We also took some time to discuss our favorite album artwork, our favorite archive/live album releases and favorite live shows from the year if you are interested.   

Thanks for reading. Until next year....

Year In Review 2023 - Favorite Albums Part 3 (Top 5)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2023's Favorite Albums Part 3: Top Five.

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation; click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20 so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify, or singles for us.

The number ten just works for this, so here is the second part of our top ten, numbers five through one. You can see the back end of our top ten and the honorable mentions albums that just missed our top ten as well. 

Like all of our lists or 'best of', these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Live Stream: The Hold Steady @ Brooklyn Bowl Friday Night 12/1

We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 and beyond era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.

Tomorrow Night: The Hold Steady - Massive Nights @ Brooklyn Bowl 12/1

The Friday night edition of The Hold Steady's yearly Massive Nights celebration will be live streamed from Brooklyn Bowl tomorrow night via FANS. 

RtBE will be in the house, but if you can't make it, grab that live stream.  To get in the mood, here is some Hold Steady to get you pumped. 

Bandcamp Juneteenth Fundraiser

You still have time to help out and grab some great music as well via Bandcamp's Juneteenth Fundraiser. 

From the site:

On June 19 (from midnight (PT) June 19 to midnight (PT) June 20), we’ll hold our annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales* to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their ongoing efforts to promote racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education.

This annual fundraiser is part of our larger, ongoing commitment to racial equity, and we’ll continue to promote diversity and opportunity through our mission to support artists, the products we develop, those we promote through the Bandcamp Daily and Bandcamp Radio, how we work together as a team, who and how we hire, and our relationships with organizations local to our Oakland space (some of which we’ve highlighted below).

We hope you’ll help us spread the word about the upcoming fundraiser, and thank you for being a part of the Bandcamp community!

Ethan Diamond
CEO & Co-Founder of Bandcamp

Lots of bans are doing their part and one that jumped out is an RtBE favorite, The Hold Steady:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Hold Steady (@theholdsteady)

 Here is some Hold Steady to get you pitching in...

Live Review: WFUV High Line Bash 2023 - City Winery, NYC 5/12/23

WFUV High Line Bash 2023

The Hold Steady, Allison Russell, Allison Ponthier, Brandi and the Alexanders

5/12/23 City Winery NY, NY

The annual WFUV High Line Bash fundraising event was held on Friday night May 12th at the gorgeous city winery directly on the Hudson River in Manhattan.  

The event was a chance for friends and supporters of the noncommercial, member-supported public media service to gather and mingle. The station that brings a diverse ray of talent to NYC's ears, and has great taste all around. RtBE has attended their events before and they are always a good time, for a good cause. 

Unfortunately, arriving late, I missed the set of Brandi and the Alexanders set, but walked in with Allison Ponthier in full flight as she delivered a set of light tunes backed by a solo electric guitar; her vocals eased out into the evening crowd as the sun set over the river and New Jersey.   

Perhaps odd for a radio station event, but the music seemed a touch secondary on this evening as donors mingled, ate snacks and drank wine, chatting with each other as Ponthier sang "Autopilot" in the background. Some of the food was truly excellent, especially the Taste of New York Reuben Egg Rolls, which combined two cultures culinary traditions. 

Allison Russell was up next and was more of a focal point as her and her band took the City Winery stage. Telling heartbreaking stories of abuse by her adoptive father she delivered songs of pain, yet survival including "4th Day Prayer" and "You're Not Alone". Moving songs and her powerful voice echoed through the venue, which started to thin out after her set. 

Headliners The Hold Steady were to follow and the Brooklyn band revamped their normal raucous rock and roll show for a more subdued story-telling, lounge-jazz vibe. Having seen the band numerous times this was a unique twist to their sound.

Opening with a restrained take on "Multitude of Casualties" the group set the quiet tone to the small crowd. The band decided to showcase their fantastic new album The Price of Progress on this night and front man Craig Finn discussed and explained a few of the inspirations for the efforts touching on Johnny Fever, The Monkees, Dictators and Amazon wish lists. 

Multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay was an MVP on this night playing piano, keys and accordion, as was guest Stuart Bogie who joined on brass and woodwinds.     

The whole set had a slow, slinking, jazz groove pushed along lightly by the low end of Galen Polivka and Bobby Drake. "Sixers" was an early highlight, and the dramatic "The Ambassador" was a late one. The group finally let the guitarists loose to end the night with the elongated, swaying, "Oaks" that found both Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge passing nuanced solos back and fourth with grace and class. 

   

An interesting night of music, friends, food and wine for a good cause. If possible, please support WFUV, and thanks to Theresa and the whole WFUV team for putting on this event, it was one RtBE is happy to support.

__________________________

Will update this with video of the show if I find some (feel free to post any you find in comments) until then here is Allison Ponthier signing "Autopilot" at WFUV:

Album Review: The Hold Steady - The Price of Progress

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of The Hold Steady's newest album The Price of Progress.  

It is a return to form for the band after Open Door Policy, which is our least favorite album from them. Each song here plays out like an indie film. The songs are strong, well constructed and affecting. While perhaps the album doesn't rank with their all-time best, it certainly can join Thrashing Thru The Passion as a reminder that even these days the band can still get it together.  

Support the band, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

Live Review: The Hold Steady 20th Anniversary Show - 1/28/23 Music Hall of Williamsburg

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of The Hold Steady's 20th Anniversary Show on Saturday night from the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. 

It was great seeing friends and family at this show and realizing RtBE covered their 10th anniversary show from the exact same vantage point...

Support the band, read the review and peep some video below:

New Album and Twentieth Anniversary Shows from The Hold Steady

One of RtBE's personal favorites The Hold Steady turn twenty this year and to celebrate they announced a host of shows today and a new album. 

While RtBE weren't huge fans of their last release, we are always down to check out what they are doing and will certainly catch them live a few times next year after seeing them play last month at Massive Nights. 

Go to their site for more info/tour dates and peep a new song "Sideways Skull" below:

Live Review: The Hold Steady @ Brooklyn Bowl 12/2/2022

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of the recent Hold Steady Massive Nights show at Brooklyn Bowl last Friday night, 12/2. 

While this wasn't our favorite tHS show of all-time, it was a real joy to see friends, loved ones and familiar faces at the Bowl.  Great night as always. 

Support the band, read the review and peep some video below:

Live Stream: The Hold Steady - Massive Nights @ Brooklyn Bowl

We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: The Hold Steady - Massive Nights @ Brooklyn Bowl 

RtBE will be in the house for the annual Massive Nights Friday Night show at Brooklyn Bowl in about 8 hours, but if you can't be there with us, you can still get down via this FANS live stream. 

To get pumped here is some of of their live stream from earlier this year in London:

Album Review: Franz Nicolay - New River

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of Franz Nicolay's solo effort New River.

The mustachioed Hold Steady piano player goes over the top with pomp as he does, and succeeds the majority of the time on New River. 

Support the artist, buy the album read the review and peep some video below:

Album Review: Craig Finn - A Legacy of Rentals

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of Craig Finn's newest release, A Legacy of Rentals. 

RtBE are huge fans of Craig Finn and the Hold Steady. Can't wait to catch Finn solo, or the Hold Steady, live again. 

Support the artist, read the review and peep some video below:

New Album From Craig Finn, A Legacy of Rentals, Coming in May

The Hold Steady's front man Craig Finn has a new solo record ready to go. A Legacy of Rentals is set to be released on May 20th. 

RtBE are huge fans of Finn and tHS. Having reviewed each of Finn's solo albums we would probably say that Faith In The Future is our favorite, but in reality the last three play just like one triple album in style and scope. 

We have also seen him solo a bunch and can't wait for this album and more shows from him either with or without tHS. 

Here is the new single "Messing With The Settings" and the trailer for the new album. 

Live Streams: The Hold Steady - The Weekender

We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: The Hold Steady - The Weekender

This weekend The Hold Steady hit London and you can join them from your couch. Stream both shows Friday 3/4 and Saturday 3/5 over at Fans. 

RtBE went with the band a few years back and they played one of the best shows we have ever seen them perform. 

To get in the mood here is a live tune from the band from another show we were lucky to attend:

Year In Review 2021 - Favorite Live Show

The live show is a slippery thing. There are lots of variables at play, most having little to do with the performance itself. Does the venue have enough bathrooms? Is it going to rain? What day of the week is it on? Did I have a shitty day at work before hand? Did tickets cost waaay too much? All of this effects one's opinion of a live show before the band even tunes up and with reason, but when the stars align, there is no place RtBE would rather be than in the moment of magic occurring spontaneously from the stage.

Live Music Has No Equal!

Taken By The Fantastic Megan Donohue

While obviously we can't see every show that is out there, we try to get out often to catch live music. Sure there are a few left in the calendar year, but for now, here is a listing of the best concerts we were fortunate enough to have caught in 2021 (THANK GOD LIVE MUSIC IS BACK!).

There are links to show reviews in the titles, also because who doesn't love arbitrary rankings, one show at the bottom took the top prize as RtBE's 2021 Favorite Live Show. We also make mention of a few live streams we enjoyed as the beginning of 2021 was still locked down for live music, but we made up for it at the end of the year seeing quite a few great ones safely in person.