Top of the Pops

My Halloween night was spent with the Hold Steady and Art Brut at the Metro last night. All the bands got into the Halloween spirit, I'm happy to report, with the Hold Steady going western and Art Brut (except the bassist for some reason) coming as a hodge podge of costume-in-a-bag looks, including Eddie Argos as Elvis. I gotta say I enjoyed Art Brut far more this time around than I did at the Hideout Block Party; they had a slide projector that highlighted the names and select lyrics of every song, which makes sense since the lyrics are the best thing about Art Brut, cause we all know all their songs sound exactly the same. I still would never buy an album and listen to it, but they're fun and Eddie Argos is a trip. And I'll always love Hold Steady singer Craig Finn's stage presence; he always seems to lose complete control over his body, his arms and legs waving randomly in the air as he yells things at the audience no one can hear when he steps away from the microphone. Finn was kind enough to assure us that Chicago was only tired that one night, and hasn't been since.

And the Hipster Couple Costume of the night was . . . The Knife! The costume for those too cool to go as Jack and Meg White.