"I think people who are coming out to a Hold Steady show, wherever we are, have the right attitude," Nicolay said. "Chances are those are people who have had that kind of experience."
But Nicolay warned that the "bar band" label may be misleading to those looking for a senseless, raucous show.
"I think the lyrics are about parties that people have, but they're also about the hangovers," he said.
Ted Swanson, the show's promoter, said the band's popularity in town is evident by the rapid rate at which tickets were sold.
"We had a certain allotment of presale tickets that went out on theholdsteady.com, and they sold out in less than a week," Swanson said.
Greg Gabbard, owner of City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave., said the Hold Steady's originality is what separates it from most bands around today.
"That's one of the bands receiving a whole lot of press right now," Gabbard said. "They're on the covers of a lot of magazines. They don't sound like anybody else. I can't think of anybody that they sound like. And originality's a good thing."
Joining the Hold Steady will be Bucks County-native band Illinois. Being somewhat local, the band is a veteran of the State College scene.
"They have an interesting sound," Gabbard said. "Any alternative band with a banjo player is interesting to me."
Both Gabbard and Swanson had nothing but praise for Illinois's new EP, What the Hell Do I Know, released two weeks ago.
"The new EP is amazing," Swanson said. "When the first thing came out and had a bunch of strings on it, people labeled it as folk, and it's not. It's indie, it's indie pop. I think the new EP will definitely define them a bit better."
Swanson said that the band is blowing up in popularity, having just played the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas.
"They just got back from SXSW," Swanson said.
"They drove through the night. They played more times than any band at SXSW."
