The Hold Steady's 'Almost Killed Me' Turns 20

The little guy up there with the glasses wasn’t really singing, and he wasn’t really playing guitar, either. The guitar was there, dangling across his chest, and he sometimes swiped at it, but those moments seemed random and unplanned. The guy’s arms flew everywhere, sometimes towards the guitar but usually not. They jutted out, pointed, clapped, stabbed at the air — a tourettic preacher’s rap hands. The little guy did not seem to be making any of the music. Instead, the music came from the guys behind him — big, mean, surly riffs that made me want to pick up a trash barrel and throw it. (I restrained myself. The Ottobar was right down the block from my house, and I was there three or four nights a week. I was not trying to get banned.) But the little guy was in a wild, impressive rant mode — all worked up, face red and contorted.

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