[DID NOT ATTEND: April 3, 2022] Ted Leo / The Afterglows
I saw Ted Leo with his band back in 2019. Here he was again as a solo performer. I was interested in going but I had a show the previous two nights and didn’t feel like going out again.
I would happily see him again [UPDATE: and I will, a few times].
I am curious what this show would have been like upstairs in the lounge–pretty chill, I guess.
The Afterglows area Philly band comprised of Radiator Hospital’s Sam Cook-Parrott and The Goodbye Party’s Michael Cantor. NPR Music says Their music conveys a long sigh — that self-aware moment just after the daydream’s ended and reality sets back in. As a vocal duo, they are The Afterglows. They play soft sweet music with a snarky side. Cook-Parrott, in his charmingly nasal croon, sings of romantic desire with vivid, yet familiar imagery. But in a sly twist that often accompanies their songwriting, Cantor joins the chorus in an Everly Brothers-style harmony to declare, “I’m burnin’ for your love / You’re drownin’ in my sea of hate.” You can almost hear their grin as the sea swells with Rhodes piano, hand claps and a reverb-heavy guitar solo, undercutting that misty-eyed sweetness with a slight sneer.
Not quite my thing, I guess.
UPDATE: Interestingly I would see them in 2026 when they opened for Remember Sports. And I rather liked them: Their songs were simple but their harmonies were really great. They had a kind of slow, dreamy quality–retro in a pleasant way.
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