Bob Mould doesn’t mess around, and neither does Craig Finn. But the two indie rock legends brought very different kinds of intensity to a steamy, sold-out show last night at The Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
Craig Finn — frontman of The Hold Steady and indie rock’s favorite storyteller — opened with a stripped-down, acoustic set alongside a single sideman switching between sax, flute and clarinet.
“It’s a full circle moment for sure,” Finn said as he took the stage, honored to share a bill with one of his musical heroes. “You do not get into a battle of rock with Bob Mould. He will defeat you. He will pummel your face in with his amazing music.”
Finn was — in a sport coat and a Natural Light hat while wielding an acoustic guitar — was playing his solo act, which is decidedly different than the celebratory, pummeling rock of The Hold Steady.
Finn grinned often and cracked jokes, delivering lines from his brand new album, Always Been (including Bethany and Amarillo Kid), with warmth and humor. Things got slightly rowdy on “Punk Is Not a Fair Fight,” but the overall vibe was relaxed — less barroom shout-alongs, more living room poetry with a woodwind section.
Unfortunately, that vibe clashed a bit with the crowd, or at least the back half of it. (Let’s just say the bar chatter was a little too loud for a guy gently strumming heartfelt lyrics.)
Then came Mould.
No fanfare. No build-up. Just a wall of distortion and a barreling freight train of songs. Mould barely stopped to speak — rumor has it he’s on vocal rest between shows — but he did pause long enough to look out at the sweltering crowd and say: “How’s it going Omaha? Do you need a minute to compose yourselves?”
We did.
Touring on his new album Here We Go Crazy, Mould absolutely tore through the set, mixing fresh cuts like Neanderthal and the album’s title track with more familiar songs such as Next Generation and I Don’t Know You Anymore.
Of course, there were also plenty of Hüsker Dü cuts.
Celebrated Summer, Hardly Getting Over It, Flip Your Wig, and Makes No Sense at All had the crowd screaming every word.
And the place was hot — literally. No AC, packed crowd and a frenzied setlist with 27 songs. But when Mould launched into Siberian Butterfly or the Hüsker Dü classic Hate Paper Doll, no one cared. We were all in.
The encore (or anti-encore?) was signature Mould: A sip from a drink behind the amp, then right back into it with a wink and a cover of Love Is All Around.
No frills. All heart. And a reminder that Bob Mould still pummels — and inspires — with every note.
See you at the next one.
