The Hold Steady - 4 night residency Horseshoe Tavern (Dec.10-13)

photo Jake Senger

It's been an open question whether The Hold Steady were still a going live and recording concern after the departure of multi-instrumentalist (harpsichordist/ accordion etc.) Franz Nicolay in 2010.  Nicolay brought a depth of musicality to the group and was the perfect visual foil to Craig Finn's clever kid theatrics.  Though the departure was described as amicable by both sides (THS wanted to focus on THS and Nicolay wanted to focus on everything from Vaudevillian schtick to whatever else he keeps busy with these days).

2010's release Heaven Is Whenever was mostly filler nearly no killer.   The word is still out on 2014's White Teeth but nobody's sending them postcards.  Initially and now permanently Nicolay was replaced by (former Lucero guitarist Steve Selvidge).  In 2012-2013 the group was on hiatus recording only The Bear and the Maiden Fair for Game of Thrones.

At the time Nicolay left the band he viewed his work with The Hold Steady as a closed book, and likely still does. Notably of all the songs they played during their four night stand- including complete run throughs of their landmark albums Stay Positive and Boys and Girls In America as well as Canadian covers by Neil Young (Don't Let It Bring You Down) and the Constantines (Young Lions)- one of their greatest hoodrat tales One For The Cutters with its disctinctive harpsichord wail was suspiciously absent.