Music

Fucking in the Streets

The Hold Steady and Vivian Girls' Drinking Problems

by Eric Grandy

Last Thursday night, the Hold Steady headlined the first of their two Seattle shows with Drive-By Truckers at the Sodo, and unfortunately it was all ages. Yes, yes, I'm glad The Kids got to see the Hold Steady, all-ages helps the world stay positive, etc., but there is one massive problem with corralling all the drinkers into the rear-of-the-room beer pen for a Hold Steady set: They are a drinking band, with loads of great lines that all demand a drink (hence last week's Hold Steady drinking game in these pages). The first and most notable of these came in their first song, "Constructive Summer," when Craig Finn sang, "Raise a toast to Saint Joe Strummer," followed by an ad-libbed, "C'mon, get 'em up!" The less-than-sold-out crowd up in front of the stage dutifully raised their hands, but of course there was nothing in them with which to toast. Also, the guitars could've been louder. Otherwise, a hell of a show.

There were more drinking problems at the Vivian Girls' Sunday-night show at Nectar. Only this time it was the band, not the audience, that ran afoul of the Washington State Liquor Control Board's Puritanism (seriously, those guys are one buckled hat away from regulating witchcraft) regarding drinking onstage, which bands can't because they're supposedly club employees in the eyes of the WSLCB (though they don't make minimum wage or receive other benefits of employment).

Vivian Girls couldn't take drinks onstage, their singer said, but "if someone buys us three whiskey shots, we'll break the law—we're punks, we break the law." Later, they pantomimed drinking out of imaginary pint glasses. Even later, Love Is All's frontwoman wondered if her mic cord was long enough for her to walk offstage and drink; it was. WSLCB, this regulation is retarded; it doesn't even keep people from being drunk onstage if they want to be, it only inconveniences their drinking for the half hour or hour they're performing. And it's making Seattle the butt of a lot of jokes—this is the third or fourth time I've heard touring bands ragging on Seattle in the last month for this shit, and deservedly so. (A possible new slogan for the Seattle City of Music initiative: "Seattle: We're not as bad as Utah!" Think about it, guys.) On a more positive note, Vivian Girls' set was just heavenly (especially "Tell the World," "Wild Eyes," and "Such a Joke"), and the band gave TacocaT a ringing endorsement, calling them "the best band in the world." I give up already, TacocaT—you win.