The Hold Steady came on to the main stage at the Ritz Ybor with a purpose. The band hasn’t been to Ybor City in a while and it was time for them to reclaim their throne as “America’s Best Bar Band.” Opening with “Positive Jam”, Craig Finn brought the crowd back to the band’s beginnings. “Positive Jam” is the first song on the band’s first albumAlmost Killed Me, the lyrics summing up modern American history and leaving off in the digital age.
The band seamlessly transitioned into “Stuck Between Stations” from Boys and Girls in America.
“I’m not old, I’m old school” Craig Finn proclaimed before taking a drink from his Budweiser can and playing “Cattle and the Creeping Things” from the band’s acclaimed sophomore album, Separation Sunday.