The Hold Steady

A disclaimer on the Linda’s Web site warns: “Please Note—Standing Room Only.” And if the Hold Steady’s recent trips through the area are any indication, even simply standing could be tricky business Wednesday night. In preparation for this notoriously sweaty show, the folks at the Linda are stripping out the seats and readying the mops. Sounds like it’s gonna be a dance-or-be-danced affair.

The notoriously hard-working band are still riding the thrill of their 2008 release Stay Positive, but with a new studio album, Heaven Is Whenever, on the horizon, they’ll no doubt have plenty of new wordy, digressive anthems in the quiver. Opening will be Baltimore guitar rockers the Oranges Band.

The Hold Steady come to the Linda (339 Central Ave., Albany) on Wednesday (April 7) at 8 PM. Tickets are $24. Call 465-5233 for more info.

Natura: Ryan Parr and Naomi Lewis

Tiny white blossoms peek through a blanket of desiccated oak leaves; twisted, headless action-figure bodies are heaped in a tangled mass, light gleaming on their jointed limbs; meticulous patterns, perhaps botanical, perhaps animal, loop across a white page in seemingly infinite shades of gray.

At first glance, painter and photographer Ryan Parr and printmaker Naomi Lewis seem to share little commonality in their work. But paired together, in the latest exhibition from the Saratoga County Arts Council, the works share calm complexity. At once playful and precise, the artists manipulate the viewers’ sense of scale and create a sense of simplicity through intense examination of detail.

“This exhibition brings together two artists exploring the essential,” the Arts Center Press reads, “within memory and the moment.”

Natura: Ryan Parr and Naomi Lewis opens at the SCAC Arts Center Gallery (320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs) on Saturday (April 3) with a free public reception from 5 PM to 8 PM in conjunction with First Saturday Arts Night. There will be an open gallery discussion with the artists on April 22 at 7 PM. For more info, call the Arts Center at 584-4132.