The first thing that strikes you about Craig Finn, the lead singer with The Hold Steady, is that this guy doesn't look like he's in a rock band. Indeed, short, bespectacled, and with a thinning thatch, he looks bookish, maybe an accountant, or an IT guru. A more than passing resemblance to Woody Allen and football manager Martin O'Neill, you might think. Indeed, the bookishness extends to the lyrics of the elaborate stories contained within the songs. What other band would have the crowd singing along to a chorus of "Sub peoned in Texas, sequestered in Memphis"? But don't let this fool you. The Hold Steady can rock with the best, as last night's gig at Manchester Academy 2 demonstrated. I first came across the band back in the mid-noughties, Shaun, a guy I knew from Stalybridge Buffet Bar, sadly no longer with us, rated them. The title track from their 2008 album 'Stay Positive' then became something of a mantra as I had a bad time that year.