The Hold Steady

Local Frames: New videos from Now, Now, Chastity Brown, Free Energy, and more

As the Twin Cities music scene grows, more and more artists are creating music that demands our attention. Combine the music with talented filmmakers locally and beyond, and you have a fruitful mix of distinct skills that generates more locally connected music videos than ever before. While it's im ... More >>

Craig Finn's top 10 albums of 2012

Making lists of things is important. Lists are great for grocery shopping, keeping track of irresistable kisses if you're Daryl Hall, remembering things you're supposed "To Do," and the corralling of the finest albums of a musical year. The Hold Steady's Craig Finn knows this, and has added an extra ... More >>

Watch Craig Finn and Lifter Puller play "The Bears" on Jenny Jones

The memories of Lifter Puller jostling the Twin Cities in the late '90s can hopefully live on -- via film. The group's guitarist-keyboardist Steve Barone is making one last push to find archival video of the group for a short documentary. One nugget that he has just shared via YouTube is Craig Finn' ... More >>

10 gorgeous GIFs from Rock the Garden 2012

Related:Review: Rock the Garden at Walker Art Center, 6/16/12Slideshow - Rock the Garden 2012: MusicSlideshow - Rock the Garden 2012: People/ScenesGimme Noise decided to add something different to the usual slideshow song and dance for Rock the Garden's 2012 running at Walker Art Center. Perhaps it ... More >>

Rock the Garden

Top 20 best Minnesota songs: The complete list

Related:Top 20 best Minnesota musiciansFirst Avenue's 20 best concertsFirst Avenue's 20 best concerts: Readers' picks50 cool facts about the Minnesota music sceneCountless songwriters have found inspiration in the Land of 10,000 Lakes over the years, and even more have hit upon something revelatory ... More >>

Rock the Garden Festival 2012 lineup

The tenth installment of Rock the Garden, the Walker Art Center and 89.3 the Current's yearly outdoor music festival, is coming on Saturday, June 16. And the lineup is now officially public!Updated: The tickets are all sold!One of the notable acts this year is the wild and oh-so-colorful Merrill Gar ... More >>

Ten local songs the Minnesota Twins should play at Target Field

Related:Minnesota Twins phase out local music programming, amp up Top 40 hitsIn 2010, the Minnesota Twins won 94 games and were Central Division champions, but last year they slid to 63-99. Chalk this collapse up to injuries, disastrous pitching, or Delmon Young, but don't discount the role that a m ... More >>

Craig Finn & Bob Mould agree that rock is often too noisy

​A hilarious exchange between two Minneapolis favorites unfolds in a new "interview" of sorts between Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn and Hüsker Dü/Sugar kingpin Bob Mould. This chat comes along with the promotional push for Finn's first solo record, Clear Heart Full Eyes -- an album Pitchfork g ... More >>

Chuck Klosterman irks tUnE-yArDs' fanbase, while likely enlarging it

via Instagram @centralalley​Some people are mad at hair metal 'n' NBA critic Chuck Klosterman at the moment. This has to do with "The Pitfalls of Indie Fame," published yesterday on ESPN-offshoot commentary site Grantland regarding the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop 2011 album of the year, Tune-Ya ... More >>

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Tad Kubler cover the 'Mats "Within Your Reach"

​Craig Finn sure has been busy lately. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his first solo album, the "Friday Night Lights" inspired, Clear Heart Full Eyes, and plotting a subsequent solo tour, he and guitarist Tad Kubler took part in a Replacement's tribute show Wednesday night at ... More >>

Craig Finn solo tour coming to the Triple Rock on February 4

Photo by Stacy Schwartz​With a release date pinned down for his first solo album (due out January 24), Craig Finn is embarking on a short solo tour this winter -- including a stop in Minneapolis at the Triple Rock on February 4.

SoundTown Series: Catching up with the New Pornographers

​The New Pornographers are one of those bands that seem like they will just quietly endure, continually putting out quality from the indie-pop front lines. Since the 2010 release of their fifth studio album, Together, various members of the Canadian supergroup (a term which the band seems to p ... More >>

Pizza Luce Block Party with P.O.S., 8/13/11

Photos by Erik HessOrion Treon of Phantom Tails​Pizza Luce Block Party 2011August 13, 2011Pizza Luce Uptown, MinneapolisThough there are still a few worthy contenders left this summer (especially next weekend's double-header of the SoundTown Music Festival in Somerset and the West Bank Music Fest ... More >>

Sam Roberts Band at the 7th St. Entry, 6/6/11

Photos by Tony Nelson​Sam Roberts Band June 6, 2011 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis There is something to be said for music that embodies straight-ahead rock 'n roll in 100% pure form. Actually, there is a lot to be said for it. In this era of bands sounding like a mixture of [insert 2-3 bands of ... More >>

Learning Curve Records celebrates 10 years

​With 31 releases in 10 years, Rainer Fronz has learned a bit about the music biz: namely, to keep putting out records that he loves. Learning Curve started in 2001 and Fronz has maintained a steady stream of almost exclusively Twin Cities-based releases in the new millennia.He's seen bands like ... More >>

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles go bowling with City Pages

Photo by Tony Nelson​We sent writer Jeff Gage out on a fun assignment this week, tagging along with seven-piece band Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles for an excursion at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. It'd been two years since we'd caught up with Michelle and her gang -- they hadn't been profiled sinc ... More >>

Craig Finn's ode to the Twins

​Fans of the Minnesota Twins are clearly flying high after our beloved local 9 clinched the Central Division title late Tuesday night (their 6th title in 9 years). And, perfectly timed to celebrate the occasion and to get all of us psyched for the postseason (as if we weren't, already), avid Twins ... More >>

Stuck Between Stations trailer features Josh Hartnett, Lookbook

Zoe Lister Jones, Sam Rosen, and Brady Kiernan​Twin City actors, musicians, and the city itself are prominently featured in Stuck Between Stations, an indie flick directed by Brady Kiernan. The trailer includes shots of First Avenue, the Walker Art bridge, bike riding, and music by the dearly depa ... More >>

The Depot Tavern hosts Diamond Dog eating contest

Photo via First Ave's Facebook pageThe Depot Tavern's Diamond Dog Eating Contest big winners Femme Eat All, Le Tenia, Pigflesh, and the Veterinarian.​With all that was going on in the Twin Cities this weekend for the 4th of the July there was another first of hopefully a yearly holiday traditi ... More >>

Director Brady Kiernan talks Stuck Between Stations, music, and Minneapolis

Photo by Kris Drake​Local director Brady Kiernan knows how to work. Since finishing his film degree in 2002, he's made his mark on the Twin Cities scene the old fashioned way, through blood, sweat, and skill. Working his way up has paid off with project after project: he's produced multiple ... More >>

First Avenue Day declared by Minneapolis mayor

Photo via First Ave's Twitter​For as long as I can remember First Avenue has been The Place. It's this way for all of us, whether your band aspires to play the Mainroom or your Dad tells smirky stories of smoking pot in the Entry basement with the 'Mats. Purple Rain? Yes, of course (how many peopl ... More >>

Brother Ali on Jimmy Fallon tonight

Ali will sit in with the Roots for a "rare collaboration."

Heart of a Champion announces winter, spring releases

The local label will be putting out works by Chooglin', the Dexateens, and the Bombay Sweets.

Craig Finn expresses pride in Lifter Puller reissues

Speaking to Spinner, the Hold Steady front man looks back on his first incarnation in Lifter Puller.

Mountain Goats work the crowd at the Cedar

The Mountain Goats played a double encore in a near-two hour visit to the Cedar Saturday night.

Art Brut

Snoop Dogg, the Sounds, White Denim, and more

Craig Finn to pen Fargo Rock City script

Between Finn's droll, incisive word gift and Chuck Klosterman's source material, this should keep rock nostalgists sated for years to come.

Mark Mallman debuts new material at intimate show

The Bryant Lake Bowl theater was packed to the gills for a stripped-down performance by Mallman.

SXSW: Hold Steady live video

Watch a live clip of the Hold Steady playing "Chips Ahoy" at South by Southwest.

Hold Steady to play Rachel Ray's SXSW party

We truly are in the end of days. Armageddon is at hand. Repent now.

The Hold Steady, Atmosphere in good company on new Coachella lineup

Minneapolis' own is set to be in good company at this spring's Coachella fest in Indio, Calif., which features a great supporting cast of artists.

Weekend Checklist

Eyedea and Abilities, Lookbook, and The Hold Steady make this weekend worth living.

The unstoppable smile of Michele Bachmann

Things I learned at the Twins Game

Jesse Malin/De Novo Dahl

Minnesota Mixtape 2007

Breakfast of Champions: 12/6

Tough Cookies

Radio K's Top 77 Records of 2005

Top 10 Albums of 2005

Artists of the Year

Hurricanes, war, avian flu, locust plagues, that annoying song you couldn't get out of your head. It wasn't the greatest of all possible years. Nor was it halfway decent. But to prove that it wasn't all bad, we asked 29 writers to rave about the ar

In Da Club: First Avenue's 35th Anniversary Party

A birthday bash exposes our highly incestuous scene

Locals weigh in on CBGB

Seek and Ye Shall Find, by Jim Walsh

8/2: Morning Communique

Growing Up

Kids don't follow: The real school of rock

How to Be Good

Living gray in a black and white world