Concert Review: The Hold Steady at the Blue Note

The Hold Steady, with Illinois and Blitzen Trapper.

Tuesday, June 12, at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO.

Concert Review by Jason Harper

“Road trip!”

That’s the only appropriate reaction when one is told that the Hold Steady is playing in a nearby city and one has nowhere important to be that night.

So it was with me and my colleague, Justin, yesterday evening as we motored down I-70 to the Blue Note, the high-ceilinged, ornate, old-smalltown-style theater in downtown Columbia where the loud, mad and exciting Minneapolis rock band was set to play.

The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn at the Blue Note. Photo by Scott Spychalski.