[ATTENDED: August 24, 2019] Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
I recall being puzzled by the name of this band back ages ago when they were sometimes known as Ted Leo + Pharmacists. It seemed like a cataloging nightmare. But I can get over that and simply enjoy that Ted has fun with his band name (sometimes written as (TL/Rx)). But this night they were billed as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The Pharmacists have, as of late been a six piece: Chris Wilson on drums, James Canty on guitar and keyboards, Marty Key on bass, Ralph Darden on guitar, and Adrienne Berry on saxophone and vocals and percussion.
After the bristling punk of Control Top, I wasn’t sure what Ted Leo would bring. I know he has roots in punk, but surely not that much punk. And, thankfully, he didn’t try to match Control Top, because that’s not his thing. It is awesome that he brought them along, though.
Ted’s older songs were punky in the way that Billy Bragg’s early songs were punky–literate, angry and thoughtful–all to a catchy melody. His newer songs are a bit more reflective (doom folk he called it).
He and the band came out and set things up and when he picked up his guitar people clapped and shouted. He put a finger up–patience–and then they all left again for a couple of minutes. My only gripe about the show was that they made Control Top cut their set one song short because of time, and then Ted and Co. waited about ten minutes after their gear was set up to come out on stage–they could have played that one last song. But that’s okay, Ted made up for it.
Even though I like Ted Leo I really don’t know a lot of his songs–I’ve been more of a casual fan. So I was delighted by the variety of sounds and styles he played from throughout his career.
His latest album, from 2017 The Hanged Man has a few darker songs (Ted has dealt with a number of personal tragedies in the years leading up to that album). He has also left New Jersey/New York for Rhode Island. But New Jersey is always in his heart.
In fact, at some point some dude yelled “New Jersey” and Ted had to stop the show to say, I know I’m in New Jersey. I know I’m in Jersey City and then proceeded to list a small place that he used to play back in his younger punk days.
I was instantly hooked to all the songs I didn’t know. If the chorus wasn’t super catchy, then there was some component of the song that I latched onto as a great moment. Right from the start I loved “The Crane Takes Flight.” Followed closely by the excellent “The Sons of Cain:”
The band also jammed quite a lot with Adrienne Berry taking a number of solos while Ted and Ralph jammed together. Ralph also took some nice solos (as did Ted).
I really loved “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” and am surprised I haven’t heard that one before. “The High Party” had a whole bunch of singalongable parts as well.
The highlight for me was “Can’t Go Back.” This is the song that totally sold me on Ted Leo. It is so freaking catchy and I get it stuck in my head for days. It was great to hear it live.
Although I suspect that most of the fans were there for the older stuff as that got the biggest reaction. He played four songs from Hearts of Oak and five from Shaking the Sheets and even three from his first album.
After five songs he started chatting to us and he went on a pretty long ramble about things. He told us it was the last day of the tour and he would miss everybody. Then he individually listed the band members and said why he’d miss them. And then he joked that this sounded like a set ending speech but they’d only played five songs, so don’t worry it’s not over yet.
I’ve complained before about the lighting in White Eagle Hall–everyone is bathed in magenta–ew. So I couldn’t get very appealing pictures of most of the band–Adrienne was too close and Ralph and Marty were too far to come clear in that light. I did snag a picture of Joe Canty who jumped from guitar to keyboards and back again and Chris before the set started though. But the venue has great sound and that’s what more important.
The show didn’t seem to be very crowded. I was reading that Ted has noticed smaller crowds in the last couple of years. This surprises me some since I thought “Can’t Go Back” was a pretty great single. He actually stopped one of the first couple of songs to tell people to move closer to the stage. I was one of those in the front –we had left an arc of space–so I did move forward. I ‘m usually reluctant to get too close because you tend to lose the vocals, but this show was mic’d well and being right up against the stage was not a hindrance. I was also tickled that my birthday gets mentioned in “Bottled in Cork.”
Leo’s lyrics and even titles are thought-provoking. Like “William Weld in the 21st Century” both because I once voted for him (the only Republican I’ve ever voted for), and because he’s now running for President–nice to see a challenge from **ump’s own cowardly party.
He talked about his doom folk and how people say he is pop punk–he refuses that label–just listen to what I’m singing about. He says maybe he’s a mix of doom folk and prog rock–this was an introduction to the new song “You’re Like Me.” This was followed by “the saddest song he’s written” (it addresses some of his personal tragedies) the new “Let’s Stay on the Moon.” It was really beautiful.
The set ended on an upbeat note with “Biomusicology.”
They left the stage at around 11 and I thought that might be it–I assumed an 11PM curfew. But Ted came back out for an encore.
People started shouting all kinds of things. Ted started mock yelling at everyone to stop talking–“I’ve got dudes shouting dude things and can’t hear any of it.” Then he asked, “Did I hear someone shout my alma mater?” [A person replied, “They said it was cool”] Ted contradicted them, “It wasn’t cool.”
People started requesting songs and he shouted, “I have a setlist right here. I wrote it all out I know what’s on it.” Then he agreed with this funny angry concession to play “Me and Mia.”
When it was over he said that him playing that “Me and Mia” was going to affect the quality of the next song (they both have high notes and I was really impressed at his falsetto). Nevertheless, midway through “Timorous Me” he had a hard time hitting that note, but he pulled through in the end.
The whole band came back out to end the night with a rocking “Walking to Do.”
It was a great show, and I’m glad I went to this one rather than his performance at Boot & Saddle last month (although any show at Boot & Saddle is bound to be great too).
SETLIST
- The Crane Takes Flight ♥
- The Sons of Cain Λ
- Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone? ♥
- The High Party ♥
- Can’t Go Back ⊗
- Angel’s Share §
- Hearts of Oak ♥
- Heart Problems §
- Dial Up ™
- William Weld in the 21st Century ⊗
- Bottled in Cork β
- Little Dawn §
-
You’re Like Me ⊗
-
Let’s Stay on the Moon ⊗
-
Biomusicology ™
Encore:
-
Me and Mia §
- Timorous Me ™
-
Walking to Do §
™ Tyranny of Distance 2001
♥ Hearts of Oak 2003
§ Shake the Sheets 2004
Λ Living with the Living 2007
β Brutalist Bricks 2010
⊗ The Hanged Man 2017
I Just Read About That... 
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