Pitchfork

Forgive the fidelity of these photos, please. It wasn't my intention to do anything at last night's Art Brut / Hold Steady gig at Chicago's Metro but have a few beers and throw up a fist or two in the general direction of rock and roll and, as such, I wasn't really packing the proper light meters and whatnot. But when Eddie Argos took the stage in an ill-fitting Elvis getup (the crotch of which, it pains me to report, rode halfway to where the sun don't shine by set's end) and the rest of the Brut followed suit in appropriate Halloween getup, well, it was all I could do not to push my way to the front to help show them off. Alas, guitarist Jasper Future's Gladiator armor and drummer Mikey Breyer's feathered Blades of Glory spandex proved hard to capture, but rest assured, they looked dashing.

A Morricone western soundtrack heralded the Hold Steady's imminent arrival on stage, so it was no big surprise—but still a friggin' riot—when the band emerged dressed as caricatures of Mexican cowboys, draped in serapes with silly little moustaches. Craig's costume lasted exactly two songs, though the moustache glue proved stronger than his resistance to heat. Complete with chomped off stogie, guitarist Tad Kubler's ensemble took the badass crown, but you've got to hand it to a group of dudes willing to don carpets in a hot club and then flail around for an hour and a half.

Oh, and the show? Fucking tops. But you won't have to take our word for it: according to an announcement from Craig Finn from the stage, they taped it for a live album.

ART BRUT

THE HOLD STEADY

The Hold Steady / Art Brut:

11-01 Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
11-04 Seattle, WA - HUB Ballroom
11-05 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-06 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
11-07 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11-08 San Diego, CA - Cane's
11-09 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
11-11 Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
11-12 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
11-13 Lawrence, KS - Granada
11-14 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom @
11-15 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa @
11-17 Birmingham, AL - BottleTree Annex @
11-18 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse @
11-19 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place Richmond @
11-20 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club @
11-21 New York, NY - Terminal 5 @

@ with 1990s

Art Brut:

11-30 Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205
12-04 London, England - ULU
12-05 London, England - ULU
12-15 Meredith, Australia - Meredith Music Festival
12-16 Sydney, Australia - The Factory
12-18 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
12-19 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner