Positive Jams

I first heard about The Hold Steady as a sudden monsoon struck I-77 just outside Mayberry Mt. Airy in the summer of 2010. Heading back to NY from my mother's house in the NC foothills, I remember having to pull over to the shoulder to avoid hydroplaning because I was driving a Pontiac Trans Am with bald tires. Rising above the cacophony of the precipitation making violent contact with GM metal, an interview with frontman Craig Finn on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me was playing in the background. Turning my attention from the road to the radio, I recall hearing Craig speak about his skeptical dentist not believing someone with his accountant-like appearance could be in a rock band. I was intrigued. After getting back home, I downloaded the latest album, and just like that, NPR had introduced me to an alcohol-fueled dive-bar band. To be fair, it was also a band with a fan-made Wiki devoted [in part] to a full annotation of the numerous references that weave their song's lyrics together. NPR loves that kind of band.

Over the next few months, I worked my way back through their extensive catalog. As I dug deeper into their history, the vocals became less melodic and more abrasive. It was eerily similar to discovering the Goo Goo Dolls through Name and then back-reading all the way to this polished beginning. The Hold Steady's published work begins chronologically with the droning "Positive Jam," that kicks off their 2004 debut album, Almost Killed Me. Craig seems to begin shows a few beers deep. By the time they launch an encore, some lyrics become quite slurred, and it's safe to say that beer mixes well with The Hold Steady. For a band out of Brooklyn with strong midwestern roots, it's only fitting that Champion Brewing of Virginia made a commemorative "swiggable" beer called A Positive Jam. Just like my late discovery of the band, I was a few years off in realizing that this existed and originated in the town of Charlottesville, VA.

Charlottesville happened to be on Ryan Adam's tour schedule this month at a quaint outdoor amphitheater at the edge of the downtown mall. There's an Omni Hotel at the other end which has become just outdated enough to be quite affordable. Between the two are numerous bars, restaurants and breweries. Included in that list is the birthplace of A Positive Jam. Quite naturally, a perfect day involving food, drink and live music was assembling itself. Megan and I just had to get to Virginia. Having lived in Harrisonburg for while, I was quite familiar with the desolation and misery that is Route 29. While Route 11 has its own potato chips, Route 29 has only pain (see left). It's just about three hours of drive time from Greensboro to Charlottesville, and we made the amateur mistake of stopping for lunch in Danville. Somehow in my four years of traveling this corridor I had successfully avoided the angsty town that is Danville. Just to up the ante and make this a real game of Russian roulette, we really took our lives into our own hands by opting for a meal at Sheetz --that is, the gas station that's also its own fast food counter.

Sheetz is kind of like JetBlue in that it's an excellent experience until one thing starts to go wrong. Then the whole operation just unravels. This time, someone stole our food from the counter and we had to wait another 15 minutes for our bag of grease. This setback was probably the Universe strongly hinting that the "Big Mozz" chicken sandwich I ordered was not the wisest of selections, especially for road food. Maintaining no association with the reputable mozzarella producer in Brooklyn it predates, this "sandwich" is actually a filet of fried chicken in a bun with marinara, provolone and several fried mozzarella sticks. It is to Sheetz what the bacon-wrapped deep-dish pizza was to Little Caesers. Curiously, the Big Mozz is the only menu item besides "pizza" that naturally contains the letter "z" (i.e., wingz, burgerz and cup o' fryz). This unforced spelling appealed to me on a grammatical level, and the deal was sealed.

I can now say that the best way to coast up US 29 is during a full blown fried food coma. Everything north of Liberty University was a blur, and ignorance is bliss in this area. Arriving in Charlottesville with a couple of hours before Ryan and the Shining took the stage, we made our way to Champion on foot. I was somewhat bummed to learn something after a three hour drive that the Internet would have told me at home for free: Positive Jam is a spring seasonal and not offered on tap (or otherwise) in late July. Fortunately, the Against Me!-themed stout --everyone's favorite summer beer style-- was on tap. A good beer based on a band I could not care less about is likely a better experience than a potentially awful beer associated with a band I do enjoy, so I consider this a win. Perhaps it's a slightly-muted victory. Nothing screams 90-degree summer weather like a stout that's darker than Guinness.

Ryan took the stage just before 8:30pm with several images of cats scattered throughout the stage. Oversized Fender amplifiers, a vintage Dr. Pepper vending machine and 80s arcade games filled the space between the musicians. It was like a Rush stage setup but less functional. The highlight of the show was probably witnessing as Ryan very publicly berated the woman in front of us for repeatedly screaming song requests in unnaturally high pitches. If it turns out that the show was taped, a shrill "SIXTEEN DAYS!" should cut right through the crowd noise leading up to "Oh My Sweet Carolina."

After blazing through 17 songs (counting the three improvised bits), the house lights came up. It was barely 10pm when the band left the stage for an obligatory encore break before running back to knock out three final songs. There was a song about purple houses and purple trousers, but my personal favorite oddball song lasting less than two minutes didn't make the final cut. It was a significantly shorter show than the one he played there last year, and this year's selections were mainly repeats from last year's show. I don't really mind the repetition because I like reliving the past, but I do feel somewhat cheated out of five songs... and most of the ones we were told to expect on Twitter. I never thought a scenario would emerge where this would be an appropriate statement, but I am kind of bummed that there were no Taylor Swift covers.

Once the band launched into the closing number, we slowly made our way to the gate to beat the crowd to the dinner hot spots. After standing in the summer heat for several hours, Megan was weak enough that I was able to strong-arm her into a late-night visit to that one place we always go when in Charlottesville: Miller's Downtown. I first dragged her here years ago because this is in some sense the birthplace of the Dave Matthews Band. A young Dave Matthews was once a bartender here and according to legend stalked the local musicians, cherry picking his favorite musicians to form everyone's favorite band to hate. Probably the most spectacular aspect about the place is the complete lack of reference to anything about Dave Matthews. Miller's was doing just fine before DMB, and they're continuing to stand on their own as just a really well-put-together tavern with phenomenal local musicians. John D'Earth (frequent DMB contributing musician/guest) still plays a weekly show there with his five-piece band. It's real, and it's awesome.

Miller's has a late-night kitchen which was quite appreciated after our concert. My usual bar order of a burger did not disappoint, and Megan was able to grab two corn dogs. Their beer selection rotates frequently, and I was pleasantly surprised to see my all-time favorite coffee ale featured. Brewed just down the road in San Diego, Ballast Point's Calm Before the Storm first caught my attention in the store because I generally like buying beer that features skeletons on the packaging. Ballast Point is notably expensive, and this pint set me back a cool $8. For those looking to pinch pennies, Miller's also serves the fairly appropriate Miller Light. I couldn't help but try to imagine David J. Matthews explaining to a customer that $8 is a reasonable price for the beer given the exquisite varieties of hops used to brew it. Well, I suppose Dave probably did not have to fill out this extensive application back in 1990.

Getting our orders in before the rest of the rabble stumbled in from the show, we capped off a perfect evening well before midnight. The one nagging issue was the disappointment from not finding the beer I originally sought at Champion Brewing. Figuring some run-down bottle shop might still have a few cases lying around from the distant spring, I turned to my dear friend, Beer Menus. Then I came to the alarming discovery that of the four places carrying this in late July, two of them were in Greensboro. So taking a quick trip after the trip, I was able to snag a can to enjoy with my collection of books from Gate City Growlers, a mere mile from my home. In the end, our ears stopped ringing and our food was digested, but I still have a beer based on The Hold Steady sitting in the refrigerator. Rock on Ryan Adams and all the best to the Goo Goo Dolls (circa 1994).

Update (07/24/2016): As the weekend winds down, I can now report that I've actually tasted Champion Brewing's Positive Jam. The casual beer fan I am, I read "wheat ale flavored with spices" and thought it would be refreshing and predictable, like Sam Summer Ale or The Force Awakens. Instead, the "lavender and coriander" are a bit overpowering, and it kind of feels like drinking very smooth, liquefied potpourri. Not at all what I expected, and fairly highbrow. Well played, Champion.