Concert review: Craig Finn (with Mount Moriah) holds forth, solo and steady at Off Broadway, Friday, February 10

Craig Finn at Off Broadway in St. Louis, February 10, 2012

Nate Burrell

Wouldn’t you just know it? A cold blast of winter finally arrived in St. Louis yesterday just as native Minnesotan Craig Finn rolled into town to play Off Broadway.

At least our unpredictable weather made the 40-year-old feel right at home.

While the cold front left blustery temperatures and overnight snow, the temperature inside the club warmed up the crowded venue as a room full of Hold Steady fans settled in for this KDHX-welcomed show.

North Carolina-based Mount Moriah opened the laid-back evening of country and folk-infused rock. Fronted by the breathy, reserved vocalist and guitarist Heather McEntire, the band played a mixture of slow and mid-tempo grooves.

For the first three songs the band held the rapt attention of the audience, but after a couple of drinks the crowd was ready for bigger things. In fact, I give the audience credit for making it that long before the discussions ensued. Though their recorded material matches up well with other artists on the folky-side of indie rock, the band lacked depth live to fully translate their sound. By the time the group got to the engaging secular gospel of “Lament” late in the set, it was too late. Overall, the performance suffered from the band’s execution and the disparity of McEntire’s mumbled delivery with Finn’s articulate style.

Even though Finn has consciously removed himself from the comfort zone of the Hold Steady he is clearly having fun on this solo tour. Smiling throughout the evening, whatever trepidation he had in the early stages of performing the songs live has slipped back into the familiar feeling of playing before an audience. With a relaxed demeanor Finn and his band played the full complement of material from his new solo album “Clear Heart Full Eyes” plus some unreleased tracks.

After taking the stage, Finn acknowledged the audience advising that, “We’re gonna play a bunch of depressing songs that are gonna bum you the fuck out.” He retained his demonstrative delivery and waved his hands in his usual storytelling fashion throughout the 90-minute set. However, the show was not your typical sweaty, drunk fest with beer flying toward band as their loud energy emanates from the stage. Rather these solo songs are sparsely, loosely played but still retaining a professional quality, which benefits from a solid group of players.

The subdued 17-song set led off appropriately with the slow album opener “Apollo Bay,” the longest song on the record. Throughout the set Finn mostly let his lyrics tell the stories, but he did add quick asides and anecdotes between songs, further adding color.

On the record the reserved production relegated “No Future” to a muted studio track; a respectable decision as it better fits with the other acoustic-based selections. Yet, in the live setting, the song took on an upbeat rock tone that engaged the crowd and kept the set varied. As with his lyrics for the Hold Steady, Finn continues to demonstrate he’s a big music fan at heart, evidenced by lines like “Good old Freddy Mercury is the only guy that advises me,” and “The best advice that I’ve ever gotten was from Johnny Rotten. He said God Save the Queen. He said no future for you. No future for me.”


On “New Friend Jesus” Finn sings, “It’s hard to suck with Jesus in your band.” If anyone played the role of Jesus in Finn’s band last night it was pedal steel/guitarist Ricky Ray Jackson. The Austin-based player is the sole member of the cast that joined Finn in the studio last summer. Jackson added his ethereal pedal steel to “Apollo Bay” and “Western Pier,” but for “Jackson” he gave the instrument a synthesizer/organ quality. Showing his versatility, Jackson moved to guitar for the other songs to impress with his solos and country-picking style.

The intimate surrounding of the venue revealed itself when most of the band left the stage while Finn and Jackson stayed behind to play the unreleased tracks “Sarah, I’m Surrounded” and “Jeremiah’s Blues” — the former Finn played during a session with Minneapolis station the Current and the latter you can hear on Finn’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert posted this week. The hushed crowd highlighted these tracks further as Finn played two more songs solo, including the gripping “Going to a Show.”

Bringing the band back on stage Finn offered a quick aside about turning down the offer of prostitutes in Hawaii before launching into “Honolulu Blues.” The set list, in fact, mirrored the end of the record as “Rented Room” — a song about moving in with roommates after a divorce and apparently his mom’s favorite — and “Not Much Left of Us” followed, ending the night.

While Finn and his backing band played no formal encore the energy level rose after the acoustic portion — the last four songs were delivered with barely a break. Nevertheless, in the end this show was about creating and performing art, not taking a bunch of buddies on the road to play songs to drunks hollering for lame ass covers. The songs on “Clear Heart Full Eyes” are a side of Finn that I would like to see return from time to time in the future.

Craig Finn set list:

Apollo Bay
Once You Roll Over (unreleased)
Balcony
Jackson
No Future
When No One’s Watching
Some Guns (unreleased)
Western Pier
New Friend Jesus
Sarah, I’m Surrounded (unreleased)
Jeremiah’s Blues (unreleased)
Dudes From St. Paul (unreleased)
Going to a Show
Honolulu Blues
Rented Room
Terrified Eyes
No Much Left of Us

Posted by | February 11, 2012 | Concerts | Comment 

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