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Finishing up the European leg of his tour, Nick Lowe saunters on stage, solo, with his acoustic guitar in front of a reservedVicar Streetaudience, seated at round tables on the ground floor. No longer happy to drift on the nostalgia of his 70’s heyday, Lowe has long left behind his career as producer and mentor to the most successful exponents of British New Wave (Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Squeeze) and, for almost 25 years, has entrenched himself in American roots music.

Opening with ‘Stoplight Roses’ from his latest release, The Old Magic, Lowe’s warm, mellow voice and austere instrumentation cut an arresting presence. It’s clear that, like Richard Hawley, Lowe draws from a songwriting well that projects a romantic view of loneliness; mainly American country songwriters and performers such as George Jones, Ray Price and Patsy Cline. A stunning, styled rendition of ‘Heart’, a song by Lowe’s former band Rockpile, concludes Lowe’s two- song solo set. As Lowe starts into ‘What Lack of Love Has Done’ from 1998’s Dig My Mood his band, including support act Geraint Watkins on keys, make their way on stage, which makes for a smooth change in dynamics early in the set.

The sheer breath of Lowe’s songbook comes into full force in the middle section of the set when ‘I Read A Lot’, a sombre, slow- burning number from The Old Magic is followed immediately by ‘Cruel To Be Kind’, Lowe’s first big pop hit, which he recently performed withUS tour- mates Wilco. The chemistry of the band is most evident on the big pop numbers, namely ‘Cruel To Be Kind’ and ‘When I Write the Book’.

After the encore, Lowe and Watkins return on stage for a duet of Watkins’ ‘Only a Rose’ and a powerful performance of ‘When I Write the Book’, which, like ‘Cruel to Be Kind’, is when the band are at their most loose and playful. As if to further emphasize that he is not enslaved by the New Wave sound that he helped to define, Lowe’s acoustic, slow- tempo version of ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding’ carries just as much weight on Lowe’s acoustic guitar and finds its place among his roots- influenced songbook and the youthful exuberance of the original studio version is side- stepped in favor of a version which casts Lowe as wiser, more mature man than the angry young man who originally wrote the tune.

It is, however, Lowe’s second encore which provides the night’s highlight. Walking on stage, solo, with his acoustic once again, Lowe performs a beautiful, measured version of ‘Alison’, a song produced by Lowe which was written by his former protégée, Elvis Costello. In a sense, it encapsulates Nick Lowe’s songwriting style and model; the well- worn Englishness of Ray Davies’sEnglandset to the American songbook of folk / country / soul music. The old magic, indeed.

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Those passing by The Academy on Abbey Street must think that Morrissey has gone all Americana. Fortunately for all of us inside, he hasn’t. The bespectacled young men in check shirts, of which there are many in The Academy tonight, are here to spend the evening in the company of The Hold Steady; or perhaps more aptly, Craig Finn’s America. For Finn’s America is one populated with big losers in love, killer parties, massive nights and mornings spent shaking off the remnants of last night’s party. Classic rock and punk are in harmony with one another, and tales of mall rats and little hoodrat friends slip off his tongue with ease.

On the surface, a Hold Steady gig resembles that of a Shane McGowan / Pogues gig; crazed debauchery fits in with the feel of the music, and there’s more of a house party feel to the proceedings than that of a live performance. Front man Craig Finn is animated, jovial, humble and inclusive. Frequently making eye contact with the audience and jumping around the stage like a cross between a hardcore singer and a stadium rocker, Finn’s narrative- driven lyrics adds to the intimacy of the night’s proceedings.

But something is apparently missing, and the band’s more than devoted following can spot it from a mile a way. Franz Nicolay, keyboard and piano player with the band, quit the band some time ago, and his absence is felt sharply in the band’s sound. Though The Hold Steady has beefed up their sound with the help rhythm guitarist Steve Selvidge (formerly of Memphis alt country rockers, Lucero), tunes with the central, E- Street – influenced piano lines, such as ‘Stevie Nix’, ‘Stuck Between Stations’ and ‘Chips Ahoy!’ sound empty. It’s of little consolation, but if you listen hard enough, you can hear many fans humming the piano lines to these songs.

What unfortunately also works against the band on the night is the one- dimensional feel of the setlist, which could leave a first-time listener of the band to believe that almost every song they’ve written is in the same tempo and, almost, the same key. Even songs like ‘First Night’ or ‘Citrus’ could have changed the mood a little and saved the band (and the audience) from being on the receiving end of a monotonous setlist.

The Hold Steady have, unquestionably, heart. They know what makes a good, solid rock show and, in Craig Finn, they have a front man who is fearless, playful and, crucially, has something to say. But without keyboard player Nicolay and refusing to give Finn’s lyrics the 360-degree view- musically- that they need, they’re in danger of becoming rock’s worst case scenario: a riff- heavy band that turn the amps up to 11 to compensate for what isn’t there.

Originally published on State.ie