The Hold Steady at CBGB, 2005. (Jen Carlson/Gothamist)
This fall will mark ten years since The Hold Steady released their brilliant third studio album Boys And Girls In America, a record that still stands up today as an exhilarating chronicle of bad behavior set to rock-solid riffs and searing guitar solos. To mark the occasion, Craig Finn & Co. have just announced three special anniversary concerts at Brooklyn Bowl, on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
A different opener will support The Hold Steady on each of the three nights, and members of the group's Unified Scene fan club will have access to a pre-sale within the next 24 hours (a password is going out over email). Tickets for all three shows go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 22nd at 10 a.m.
The band is also selling three-day passes, which will include entry to a "happy hour sound check party" on Friday, December 2nd. The shows, along with the band's dates at the Denver and Chicago Riot Fests and the Toronto Urban Roots Festival are the only six tour dates The Hold Steady has scheduled for 2016.
Since the release of Boys And Girls, THS's musical output has been marked with both successes and struggles. Keyboardist Franz Nicolay walked away from the band in 2005, only to rejoin the group earlier this year, and Finn spends more time going to church in Greenpoint than he does getting stoned in south Minneapolis squatter dens. Things have changed for the band, but songs like "Stuck Between Stations" and "Southtown Girls" still rock as hard as ever. Watch video of The Hold Steady performing "The Weekenders" in 2010 (live from Gothamist House) below.
