When I first discovered The Hold Steady it was love at first listen. They were like nothing I’d ever heard before. I fell hard and fast and there was no looking back. But, sadly, as is often the case of for fickle young girls, the love grew tired. As The Hold Steady and I fell into a meaningful, comfortable relationship I began to grow restless. I missed those first exhilarating months –butterflies in my stomach and a racing pulse. With each record released, I began to grow a little resentful. Yeah, sure this is good, I thought, but it’s not like that first time.

And while my love for the band hasn’t necessarily abated, it’s just not the same. I’ve come to dub this “The Hold Steady Effect” which is clearly defined as: A phenomenon whereby nothing seems to blow you away quite like the first experience, and while it’s good and all it still makes you long for that first mind-blowing time.

I fear Jean Thompson’s suffering from The Hold Steady Effect (which would be kind of awesome had she mentioned THS in her Largehearted Boy Book notes essay). It’s sad. Her latest short story collection Do Not Deny Me is a good, readable book. Solid writing, decent stories, everything you want. Right?

And yet, it still left me hankering for that first time I read Throw Like a Girl. Somehow, something was missing, and I can’t quite figure out what it was. There was just nothing in this book that grabbed me by the front of the shirt and shook me, nothing that made my heart beat goofy with glee. It was just, I guess, passable– better than a kick in the head, not as good as ice cream.

One thing I do have to say though, is that I’m not sure about this trend of multi-point-of-view stories. Jean Thompson has one in her collection and Mary Gatiskill did too. I don’t dig it. Time is so compressed in a short story, you have so few pages to get things going that I get annoyed when I’m put into a second character’s (and in Gaitskill’s case third, fourth, fifth. . .) point of view. It feels like besides the point, a distraction, and I find myself wanting to get back to the actual point.

It’s been a rough year for me, two of my all-time faves leaving me a little disappointed. Oddly enough it was each of the author’s third collection. Maybe there’s something in literature akin to a sophomore slump and it starts with your third collection.

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I know some people take their concert-going attire very seriously and agonize over what to wear, do I go with the Ramones shirt or this Threadless classic? Does wearing this DIO shirt with black shorts and white socks pulled upt o my knees make it seem like I’m trying too hard? (Yes. Yes, it does.). Generally, I spend a lot of time amused at the band/music t-shirts on display at a concert. It’s a way to express your superior music taste. I can dig it.

However, I thought there was a golden rule about not wearing the band’s t-shirt to their concert. Until Saturday night I thought this was the kind of behavior only displayed by the nerdiest of the nerdy. The nerds so nerdy that most nerds won’t even play Dungeons & Dragons with them (incidentally, I only played D&D once and was so annoying they wouldn’t even let me finish playing).

At The Hold Steady (THS) concert Saturday night, there were a vast number of people who either did not know the rule or blatantly broke it in their Hold Steady devotion. I am puzzled.

On Twitter, Jake claimed that wearing the band’s t-shirt to a concert is only acceptable at THS shows. I beg to differ. There is no band where wearing their t-shirt to their concert is acceptable. It just shouldn’t be done. Ever.

Why would someone do that? We realize you dig the music, you’re at the concert. Now you just look like a jackass as if you’re trying to prove you love the band more because look, look I have the t-shirt. Know what jackass? Everyone has the t-shirt, it’s just that 99.99% of us (and Saturday that percentage would have to drop to like 85%) know you don’t ever wear the band’s shirt to their concert.

Ever.

Ever.

For real. Don’t.

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This here is Max & Jaycie sitting with me on the steps of the Basilica. They are chanting “Urban Spoon, Urban Spoon, Urban Spoon” because they are brats who like to drive me crazy. There’s an Urban Spoon iPhone app that helps you choose a place to eat. It’s pretty cool. However, despite what Jaycie & Max think, it is not a game. They like to “play” Urban Spoon. After awhile the slot machine noise started to drive me crazy, so I grabbed Ziggy from their claws and claimed, “enough!” Which was my first mistake.

My second mistake was claiming that you couldn’t actually “play” Urban Spoon. Thus began an argument that continues to this day and involves a lot of chanting.

We were at the Basilica for the Block Party that featured The Hold Steady. It was Max’s first ever concert and I envied him having such a good band for his first concert-going experience. I tried to explain to him how cool it will be some day, twelve years from now, when he’s at a bar with his friends playing what was your first concert. I think the gravity of such an event was lost on him.

Jayice, however, is an experienced concert goer. She attended her first concert at three (The Dixie Chicks) and on Wednesday last week she got to see the Jonas Brothers and have one of those experiences we all dream of.

She and Sister #2 were up in the nosebleeds of Target Center. According to Sister #2, they were one row in front of the wall at the tippy top. About six songs into the concert filled with screaming tweens and their moms, someone approached them. The dude said he was from Burger King and was wondering if they’d like to upgrade their seats. Jaycie and Sister #2 followed the dude down the aisle, back stage, and then took a spot in the second row.

Jaycie was so excited her head fell off, and Sister #2 said she cried a little because she couldn’t imagine Jaycie being happier.

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Also, I got the all the kidlings Threadless Ts (thank you $5 sale, you are my best friend). Liam was most excited by his:

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