In my head, record shop instores are meant be like the final scene of Empire Records– with a band playing on the roof and slackers rolling kegs down the street. In reality, this never ever happens, and perhaps that’s a good thing as no one really ever wants to see Renee Zelwegger sing more than once in their lives. And in spite of my shattered teen movie dreams, sometimes, in record stores, with their poor sound systems and randomly congregated audiences, in stores can be truly quite remarkable gigs. Craig Finn’s recent performance at Rough Trade East definitely falls into that category.
As a huge Hold Steady fan, I did (wrongly) wonder if Finn’s debut ‘Clear Heart, Full Eyes’, was just going to be an album of ‘not making the grade’ Hold Steady outtakes. Instead, it is full of wonderfully unique country-esque songs, with simple guitars focussing topics such as on punk rock wisdom (‘No Future’) and the dying days of a relationship (‘Not Much Left of Us’)- much more contemplative than some of the party tales of The Hold Steady but with all the lyrical brilliance.
Playing at Rough Trade with just a slide guitarist as back up, to a small audience of pre-sale album buyers, journalists and the odd hipster who had stumbled in off Brick Lane, Craig Finn still managed to bring new beauty to stripped down versions of the highlights from ‘Clear Heart Full Eyes’. Songs such as ‘Sarah, I’m Surrounded’ sounded beautifully melancholic, and ‘My Friend Jesus’ provided a humorous interlude.
Considering this, perhaps then the main outcome of the Rough Trade East, is actually something quite awe-inspiring: whilst The Hold Steady are undeniably one of the greatest live bands around, this short set demonstrated that with a very different set up, with a different array of material, and without a full band, Craig Finn still has the ability to host an enchanting live show. It’s not just the party soundtrack of The Hold Steady he has up his sleeve, but now its an album and live show of truly beautiful, enigmatic songs.
I’m pretty sure no one from the cast of Empire Records couldn’t even come close to that achievement.
TRACKS:
