Craig Finn Played Wonder Bar with Esmé Patterson, 11/5/16

Faith in the Future

I went to last night's show purely as a fan. To paraphrase what a good friend of mine said to me at a show a few weeks ago, I was there "as Jim." It's hard for me to resist taking a few snaps and saying a few words though, so here's that.

I got into Wonder Bar just after doors opened and spent some time at the bar with a few friends. I met -- for the second time -- a couple of Unified Scenesters who were spending a few nights following Finn on the PA / NJ / NYC portion at the end of his tour. The playlist coming over the PA for the evening had a definite aughties mainstream indie rock vibe -- NMH, The National, Wilco, Fleet Foxes, The Shins, TV On The Radio, My Morning Jacket. I guess that's what Craig Finn / Hold Steady fans are supposed to be into or something.

Colorado's Esmé Patterson took the stage just after 9pm. An engaging personality, Patterson didn'tseem at all perturbed by the LOUD hum of conversation coming from the bar. In fact, she was gracious and honestly excited to be in the land of Springsteen. She and her drummer did a nice job of drowning out the talking during her songs.

Patterson did several songs from her latest album, Woman to Woman. It's a collection of responses from the women in famous rock songs like Jolene ("never chase a man"), Billy Jean ("Ain't I? Ain't I your lover?), and Caroline No ("You're crying for what you can't keep and no one knows why but me."). Just a really good set from a creative songwriter.

Craig Finn and his band, The Uptown Controllers, came out at around 10 and opened with Finn delivering a mostly solo acoustic version of "Maggie I've Been Searching for Our Son" from his latest album, Faith in the Future. From there, Finn and the band played through a roughly two-hour set that hit on both of Finn's solo albums. Most of the songs rocked slightly harder than they do on the records, and Finn took several opportunities to engage in some of his performance trademarks like spreading his arms wide, snapping his fingers, or backing away from the mic to repeat lyrics to the audience.

While Finn's solo work isn't nearly as loud as his work with the Hold Steady, it contains many of the same themes. Throughout the night, there were references to saviors, the crucifixion, heaven, and redemption. There were also plenty of broken characters making their way through the world.

Finn ended the main set with the full-band, electric version of "Maggie." The encore included Lifter Puller's "Mission Viejo" and The Hold Steady's "Certain Songs." My friends from the Unified Scene stood next to me and sang every lyric all night, but Finn brought everyone -- including casual fans -- into his little circle for two hours.

I was happy that I decided to attend as myself last night. Standing up front and listening to some good stories is just that much better for me when I'm not trying to do it from behind the viewfinder of my camera.