On Halloween, desperadoes took over the Metro. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. By the third song lead singer Craig Finn was taking off the poncho and tossing the cowboy hat. Clint Eastwood never had to rock out under all those threads, anyway.

These outlaws some call the Hold Steady opened to a sold-out house with “Stuck Between Stations,” and the costumed crowd of lumberjacks, vegetables and hoodrats responded, jumping up and down, pumping their fists, and singing and clapping along like they’d all had a little too much candy. There wasn’t a song that fans weren’t thrilled to hear, even when the band delved into their catalog, playing rarities such as “Modesto is Not That Sweet,” “Girls Like Status,” and “You’ve Gotta Dance (With Who You Came to the Dance With),” as well as several songs from their first album Almost Killed Me. Being able to play whatever you want must be a perk of selling out the Metro two nights in a row.

They also played several new songs, which range in content from trying to score Adderall before a big exam to searching for faith – proof that their next record will be as amazing as their first three. This dichotomy is what makes the Hold Steady so beloved. Finn writes lines such as, “Hey citrus, hey liquor, I love it when you touch each other” followed shortly after by “Lost in fog and love and faithless fear, I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere.” Only a man with a prestigious academic degree and a pedigree in punk rock can write such songs. Finn, alum of Boston College and former singer for art-punk band Lifter Puller, is just such a man.

The night continued like the best lines of Hold Steady songs — “people touching people that they don’t even know,” with kids coming “from miles around to get messed up on the music.” When it came time to leave the stage, Finn led the audience in a sing-along version of “Southtown Girls.” He needn’t have bothered. No one could hear him over the howling of fans eager to demonstrate just how much every word meant to them.

When they triumphantly rolled back on to stage for their encore they started slow with “Citrus,” and worked their way up to “Killer Parties.” Before they finished, Finn summed up the night for everyone. He looked at the crowd, abashedly trying to fit one more sentence into the night, and sputtered, “There is such joy in what we do up here!”

For those of you who missed the show, never fear. The entire set was recorded for a live DVD slated to be released in early 2008.