The Hold Steady closes out Taste of Randolph

Normally, anything that remains static upon repeated viewings becomes less entertaining. When it comes to concerts especially, an audience expects new material, new banter, a different experience than the last time they saw the act. The Hold Steady, however, makes it a point to play every show like the last one. The set list may vary slightly, but there are things you know for sure will happen at any given Hold Steady show. Lead singer and guitarist Craig Finn will frantically jump around, gesturing wildly with his hands and yelling bursts of praise at his audience. He will, in the middle of a song, refer to his band as a bar band and then introduce its members. And he will, without a doubt, start the show's last song by emphatically announcing, "There is so much joy in what we do." Oddly enough, the predictability of the Minneapolis rock band's show is part of what makes it so alluring. You know that, no matter what, Finn is going to have a great time.

The band closed out the Taste of Randolph Street Festival last night, grinning and sweating through a mix of songs heavily drawn from its last two albums. Opening with "Stuck Between Stations" off 2006's Boys and Girls in America, the band got the crowd jumping and screaming the "whoas" in songs like "Chips Ahoy" and "Stay Positive." A guy at the front with a Hold Steady tattoo on his forearm sang along to every song, occasionally stopping to clutch a stray shoulder, smile and yell "I don't even know you!" to a stranger. When Finn started his familiar "We love playing music" speech, he prefaced it by saying "I know I say this often, but it doesn't make it any less true." I'll be the first to admit that I believe him.