I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2024] The Aimee Mann & Ted Leo Christmas Show

My wife and I saw Aimee Mann 18 years ago.  When this show was announced, it sounded like a great way to see her again.  Way back then I didn’t know anything about Ted Leo.  And when the two of them got together as The Both, I was interested more for her than for him.  Now, all these years later, I’ve seen Ted Leo twice and am more interested in The Both because of him.

But I assumed that this would be a fun Christmas night out.

And it was.  But it also wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

I assumed that it would be the two of them singing Christmas songs and that their guests, the amazing Paul F. Tompkins, Nellie McKay and Josh Gondelman would add humor and song to the sets.

They had a backing band (whom they introduced but whose names I missed).  There was a bass player, a drummer and keys.  Aimee and Ted both played guitar.  The backing band started playing the haunting opening of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime.  Then Aimee and Ted walked out (both dressed head to toe in black, which amused me) and sang.

And that’s basically what I expected.  Up next was a Christmas song that I barely knew but which I loved immediately–Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade.  It became a favorite Christmas song for me.

Then Paul F. Tompkins came out and there was banter and humor.  Then Paul and Aimee started to sing O Christmas Tree, but Ted said he wanted to get things back to a more pagan feeling of the holiday season.  Ultimately they sang My Favorite Things (which is NOT a holiday song) but they had changed the lyrics to My Favorite Pagan Things and it was hilarious.

They sang a beautiful I’ll Be Home For Christmas.  And then Ted introduced a song that he said always made his father cry The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey (my wife noted that this is the THIRD donkey-related Christmas song that she’s aware of).

Up next was comedian Josh Gondelman whom I did not know.  His jokes were a little adult (which I think was fine as there weren’t any kids that I saw, but was still surprising).  But he was very funny.  He also told Ted that they were basically setting up a pagan bacchanalia backstage and if any audience members wanted to come back and try to conceive a child they would have some magic going to help them out.  ted tried to say that that’s not what he was talking about but it was clear that the participants were going to run with the joke to absurd levels.

Then Aimee and Ted came out and said that they had written a Christmas song and it was available on vinyl.  It was the first song that really rocked and was quite loud.

Incidentally, there was a weird recording playing in the background–possibly through Ted’s amp?  It was weird and they said that they could hear it when we couldn’t, but by the end of the show, the sound was clear during the quiet moments.

And then a woman started singing.  Nellie McKay walked through the audience singing a cabaret style Christmas song (at least partly in German).  She walked through the audience singing in her string accent–with no explanation.  When she came out later and sang in English it was quite a surprise!

Then Aimee came out with a 2024 sash and started singing What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve.  Ted came out in a diaper with a 2025 sash and moments later Paul F. Tompkins came out in a 5785 sash, while dressed like a rabbi.  Hilarious, but they sounded great!

Josh and Nellie came back out on stage speaking in incredibly high squeaky voices (were they using a voice modulator?) and then sang the Chipmunk Christmas Song.

Nellie stayed on stage with her ukulele and sang what my wife says is the mist beautiful rendition of The Christmas Waltz she’s ever heard.

Then it was time for some more humor. Aimee and Ted came back on stage and said that a ew years ago they sang Stay with Lisa Loeb. But they found the backing vocals so interesting that they were going to play the song with them only singing the backing vocals.  It was hilarious but also really good.

Their final special guest was Krampus–Paul F Tompkins who did a lounge standup bit (hilarious) and then sang I’d like to Beat the Christmas into You.

Things got even funnier when Aimee came out and said that Voices Carry was originally a Christmas Song that went “Hush, he’s your dad now, this is Gary.”  So funny!

A great rendition of You’re a Mean One (with Paul reciting the story) was fantastic.  They all sang The Holly Bears a Berry in the round, which was really lovely.

And then they played some rocking songs, Aimee songs, Ted songs and a song from The Both.

The night ended with them talking about what they needed to sacrifice to give everyone a happy Christmas.  Josh said they had a goat, but Ted said he didn’t want that.  But he wondered what you received for various animals.  What about a dog? And everyone turned on him (hilarious).  Finally they settled on human sacrifice and Aimee volunteered.  And they sang A Good Old Fashioned Human Sacrifice.  I didn’t expect the night to get so dark.  But it was great.

And they ended with a sweet rendition of Christmastime is Here from Peanuts.

It was a wonderful good old fashioned variety special and I loved it.  We’ll definitely go if they bring it around again.

1. Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney cover)
2. Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade cover)
3. My Favorite Pagan Things (Rodgers and Hammerstein cover) (Aimee, Ted, Paul F. Tompkins)
4. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Bing Crosby cover)
5. The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey (Ed Ames cover)
6. Josh Gondelman Set
7. Nothing Left to Do (Let’s Make This Christmas Blue) (The Both song)
8. Unknown Holiday Medley (partly in German) (Nellie McKay)
9. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (Frank Loesser cover) (Aimee, Ted, Paul F. Tompkins)
10. The Chipmunk Song (Josh Gondleman, Nellie McKay) (The Chipmunks cover)
11. The Christmas Waltz (Nellie McKay) (Frank Sinatra cover)
12. Stay (I Missed You) (Backing Vocals and Guitar)  (Lisa Loeb cover)
13. Krampus Set
14. I’d Like to Put the Christmas Into You (Paul F Tompkins as Krampus)
15. Voices Carry (This is Gary) (’Til Tuesday song) (“He’s Your Dad Now, This is Gary” rewrite)
16. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Thurl Ravenscroft cover)
17. The Holly Bears a Berry (Sans Day Carol) 
18. Leaving River Road (Ted Leo cover)
19. Save Me (Aimee Mann cover)
20. Milwaukee (The Both cover)
21. Bottled in Cork (Ted Leo cover)
22. Sugarcoated (Aimee Mann cover)
23. Pagan Sacrifice Skit
24. (A Good Old Fashioned) Human Sacrifice
25. Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi Trio cover)