r/theholdsteady

The Hoodrat Recap heads west for a Pacific Northwest run through Portland and Seattle, joined by Emerald City’s own Rachel and Riverside Matt. Three shows, three wildly different venues: a converted church, a public picnic area, and — yes — an actual working zoo.

Rachel and Matt break down the weekend show by show, trading highlights and arguing over which setting won. Rachel comes armed with a batch of new zoo-themed titles for Hold Steady classics that get funnier the longer she keeps going. Matt, meanwhile, admits he needed to pull up his credit card statement just to reconstruct where they actually were each night.

Plus: listener voicemails.

https://linktr.ee/thehoodratrecap?utm\_source=linktree\_profile\_share&ltsid=ed9fb796-55ae-42a9-be88-ac0f1e82da36

Listen to Kevin and Gaspar review the awful Body Cam film with the guys from “The Or Is It” podcast.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/or-is-it-movie-podcast/id1739256989?i=1000781241999

I've been rocking with THS since I saw them at the first Pitchfork-curated Intonation Fest in 2005. Immediately bought Separation Sunday and fell in love, coincidentally around the time I started smoking weed. Lots of weed. A Midnight Express amount of weed. THS was my soundtrack for driving to work stoned or waiting around for sketchy dealers.

I've smoked and drank with Craig multiple times, have four THS setlists and they've been a favorite for over two decades. Hadn't seen them since 2014 so I didn't know what to expect, but holy hell.

I foolishly assumed they were playing Boys and Girls In America both nights but the first night was "Oops! All Bangers!" in a tiny club. Probably the smallest one I've seen them in since 2007. Opening up with "Hornets! Hornets!" popped the crowd and it was nonstop energy all night.

Saturday night was just as much fun. The Mountain Goats were just as good live as always. This was my fifth time seeing them and my first since 2008. The new album is phenomenal. Also, I was the manlet screaming about Candlebox in the front row in case anyone cares.

Crowd was so polite and respectful while still being energetic. They sadly had to cut "Entitlement Crew" and "Sequestered In Memphis" for time Saturday but it's all good. Still two killer parties.

Hope everyone who sees them has as much fun as I did. Stay positive and always know your dealer, kids! 🩵🩷

I was thrilled to be asked to host and moderate a Q&A while the band and BAGIA producer John Agnello were in Chicago earlier this summer, all about the writing, recording and behind-the-scenes sagas of 'Boys and Girls in America,' celebrating its 20th anniversary.

This was an exclusive event for Lanyards members, but now the full audio is available to everyone via my podcast, Vinyl Emergency. Whether you attended or not, I hope you enjoy it!

LINK HERE

Photo credit: Lee Allen; more pics available on our Instagram post.

I saw Craig Finn and Patterson Hood in State College, PA and Craig Finn played an unreleased song that was inspired by an opinion piece on "tattooed dads" (bartenders/artists married to high-level corporate women). I can't find ANY information about this song, not even the name. The set list (https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/patterson-hood-and-craig-finn/2026/the-state-theatre-state-college-pa-1b74d57c.html) says "Easter Weekend" but it was definitely not that song. Has he played this anywhere else?

Figured I would share this video I took of most of Mission Viejo during the Devil in the Details tour. This was honestly one of my favorite concert moments ever. Total shock that he played it, and moreso that he explained the story behind it. Slowing it down and adding the sax really highlights what a sad and beautiful song it is.