The Hold Steady "Citrus" (18.4 MB) from Boys and Girls in America Orpheum Stagedoor Madison, WI May 18, 2007

When the band came out for their encore, all they had left from Boys and Girls was this song, and if that didn't tip off that it was coming, Tad Kubler's acoustic guitar deployment did. It didn't wind up as the actual closer -- the encore ran about 20 minutes -- but it was a nice cap to newer, bigger-than-club-sized material. The show wasn't as intimate as either of the other shows I've seen them at -- one an acoustic set in Brooklyn, the other a crazed Halloween-night event at the Annex -- but it was certainly the same kind of huge shared experience. It's hard to know after a show like that whether I'd prefer them to stay on the road for a while longer or to get back into the studio and crank out another great record. Either way, rock fans win.