Fucking in the Streets

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.