Pop Break Live: The Hold Steady with Friendship at The Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday February 4, 2023
The Hold Steady brought their 20th anniversary celebration of the band to Brooklyn Bowl Philly on Saturday, February 4, 2023. Philly locals Friendship kicked off the night with a tight set of mellow rock tunes. The band was closing out a three night run with the Hold Steady, opening shows in Baltimore and DC the two nights prior.
The party turned up around 9:30 p.m. as The Hold Steady took the stage and launched into a career spanning 25 song set including tracks from seven of the band’s eight studio albums plus two tracks from the upcoming 9th album, The Price of Progress, due out on March 31st.
The crowd stuck with the band from start to finish; singing and dancing under a confetti shower glittering under the giant mirror ball featured at the center of the Brooklyn Bowl ceiling. The most remarkable quality of a Hold Steady show is the authentically good time shared by both the band on stage and the crowd. The room is equally enraptured with the musicians at the front as the band is of the audience staring back. A tone of gratitude prevails in these rooms knowing the music community is reaching the other side of a long pandemic apart; being connected by cameras and screens is no comparison to standing shoulder to shoulder in our favorite hallowed halls as the opening cords of our favorite songs ring out.
Craig Finn closed out the night with their classic phrase uttered many times over the last 20 years, “We all are…the Hold Steady!” Here’s to hoping we’re all doing it together for another 20.
The Hold Steady Setlist (via setlist.fm)
The Feelers
Stuck Between Stations
The Swish
Party Pit
Stevie Nix
Multitude of Casualties
Sequestered in Memphis
Carlos Is Crying
Chips Ahoy!
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
We Can Get Together
Entitlement Crew
Banging Camp
Family Farm
The Weekenders
Constructive Summer
Massive Nights
Unpleasant Breakfast
Sideways Skull
Stay Positive
Southtown Girls
Encore:
Citrus
Modesto Is Not That Sweet
Most People Are DJs
Killer Parties
