Last night I had the pleasure of seeing The Hold Steady Live at the Social in Orlando Florida.

Two bands opened up for The Hold Steady. The first band was The Sugar Oaks.  It's been said that if you don't have anything nice to say... 

They sucked. Hard. Like a low-rent bluegrass Hootie and the Blowfish, minus any sort of vocal talent.

The second opening band was The Big Sleep.  This band absolutely floored me and captivated the whole crowd.  The Big Sleep is a trio from Manhattan who play a sort of Post Rock with sparse vocals but an incredibly layered and lush sound. Equal parts early Sonic Youth and Mogwai, The Big Sleep put on an energetic set and hit the audience with a true wall of sound. I highly recommend checking this band out if they are ever in your area.

The Hold Steady took the stage just after midnight and played for nearly 90 minutes.  They opened with 2 songs from Boys and Girls in America, and then switched back and forth between older songs and new.  When all was said and done, they played 8 tracks from BAGIA and 7 songs from earlier albums.

It has been years since I’ve seen a band that had this much fun on stage. Literally all 5 of the members had a huge stage presence and interacted with the crowd. If the crowd wasn't singing loud enough, the bassist threw money into the crowd to pep them up.  The guitars would squeal into impromptu solos the louder the crowd got and the band took turns telling stories and anecdotes between songs.  The set concluded with an invitation for the crowd to hop up on stage and take the instruments, and a request from the band for help getting stoned after the show. I'm sure they had no problems there.

If it wasn't for the first band, this would have been a perfect show.  The Hold Steady was well rehearsed, precise and filled with energy and alcohol.  They have officially moved into my number 2 must see spot for Langerado in March 2007.

The Sugar Oaks : 1/10

The Big Sleep: 9.5/10

The Hold Steady: 10/10

Overall : 9/10

Mahalo