The Hold Steady in Ybor City

I found out about a Hold Steady concert that was happening in Ybor City before we left - trouble was, it was billed as a re-scheduled free show, to which tickets had already been given away. I ended up emailing the band via their myspace, and they graciously respond, asking me for my contact details, and how many people I would be bringing to the show! I was very excited about this (though I hadn't received a confirmation email, so even up until the very day of the show, I wasn't sure that we would get in).

The show was on July 2, so after Amy and I watched some dolphins, and spent some time on the beach with Dollward and Sharkey, we went back to the house to get ready. Juan ended up coming with us to the show too. The three of us had a great time. The music was beyond fantastic - I don't think either Juan or Amy really knew the band before that day, but they both enjoyed the show as well.

For me, it was pretty awesome seeing The Hold Steady in Ybor, because I definitely connect the two together in my head - probably because so many of The Hold Steady's lyrics involve Ybor City. Here's the lyrics to my favourite song of theirs:

The Hold Steady - Killer Parties

if they ask about charlemagne. be polite and say something vague. like another lover lost to the restaurant raids. if they ask why we left in the first place. say we were young and we were so in love. i guess we just needed space. we heard about this place they called the united states. we found out virginia really is for the lovers. philly is full of friendly friends that will love you like a brother. pensacola parties hard with poppers pills and pepsi. ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties. killer parties almost killed me.

if she says we partied then i'm pretty sure we partied. i really don't remember. i remember we departed from our bodies. we woke up in ybor city.

More pics right this way