The Hold Steady @ El Rey

Everywhere you go in LA, you're surrounded by hipsters. Go grocery shopping - hipsters. Go to 7-11 - hipsters. Go to Target - hipsters. Granted, there are a lot of different types of hipsters. For my purposes I mean fashion-conscious, young people out in public. There are hippie hipsters in Echo Park (young but trying to look older than they are, heroin thin, pale, long hair, 60/70s clothes). Cahuenga corridor hipsters (the kind Cobrasnake likes to photograph - youngest subset, cocaine thin, pale, short angular hair, 80s clothes). West side hipsters (youngish, but trying to look younger than they are, gym thin, $300 designer jeans). Apparently the only place you won't see any type of hipster (not even a geek-chick hipster) in LA is at a Hold Steady concert.

Peter Jackson - Prototypical Hold Steady fan

When all the guys in your band look like the drummer from Cheap Trick, it's probably tough to attract good looking women to your shows. As a result, you end up with a bunch of regular guys who probably like to get laid as much as anybody else, but probably have regular 9-5 jobs, and aren't willing to put in the time to cultivate a look. Basically a Hold Steady concert looks a class of 1988 Midwestern high school reunion.

Bun E. Carlos - Prototypical Hold Steady Band Member?

I went into the show a bit skeptical. I'd heard some of the recorded material and wasn't that moved by it. Seeing them finally allowed me to see the attraction. It's the type of music the average dude can relate to. Substance over style. The band looks like their audience. They're not fashion-conscious and they probably had day jobs at Initech a few years ago. These guys aren't frat boys, or pencil neck geeks or hipsters. They're the guys Judd Apatow makes movies about. Guys that like to drink beer, watch ESPN and maybe eat mushrooms on special occasions. They might go to Comic-Con, but they're the cool guys there.
So what does the music sound like? The Hold Steady sounds like Bruce Springsteen fronting Thin Lizzy. The lead singer wears a guitar as a necklace. He usually only manipulates the strings to tune it between songs. While he sings, he needs his hands free to gesticulate like a rapper (well maybe not a rapper, but at least like a singer who gesticulates wildly with his hands). Meanwhile the music has power chords. Lots of power chords. Power chords that could fill a stadium. The songs are littered with characters that could be in a Fante, Kerouac or Bukowski novel. Every single song (I'm not exaggerating here) is about either drinking, fucking or getting high. Most are about all three.

I must confess that I got a bit bored with it, and ending up leaving before the encore. The Hold Steady has a great connection with its audience, and at least I finally understand the attraction. I'm the first to admit that I like minor chord, melancholy music way too much (pretty much the opposite of the what the Hold Steady plays).