How am I supposed to know if you're high?

There was a lot of hype around Lifter Puller back in the late nineties. I tried to resist just because everybody kept saying how great they were.

I was at the record store a month or two after the band broke up and I found a used copy of Fiestas and Fiascos. I was blown away and I was kicking myself for not ever seeing them. I learned a lesson that sometimes when everybody tells you how great a band is, that sometimes it's because the band really is great. I did get a chance to see them when they played a few reunion shows in 2003 when the Triple Rock opened.

Then came the Hold Steady. Some are turned off by Craig's voice, but I love it. Some are turned off by the big guitar riffs, which border on classic rock shlock at times. I think if you see it live though, you can really understand that this band is something special.

I saw the Hold Steady last night at a sold out First Ave. They played for an hour and a half and, of course, it was incredible. Craig Finn is such a dynamic front man, he knows how to engage the audience for sure.

Here is an interview the boys did with Mary Lucia at the Current.