Ted Leo/Pharmacists @ The Ottobar, Baltimore, Maryland 8/2/06
One More Time [Daft Punk cover] / Little Dawn / 2nd Ave, 11A.M. / Sons Of Cain / Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone? / The One Who Got Us Out / Some Beginner's Mind (mp3) / Colleen / Me And Mia / Counting Down The Hours / The High Party / Who Do You Love
post-blackout singalong: Since U Been Gone [Kelly Clarkson cover] / Maps [Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover] / Don't Stop Believin' [Journey cover] / Dirty Old Town [Ewan McColl cover] / To Whom You Were Born (mp3) [Lungfish cover] / Mace and Grenades [Hugh Masekela cover] / Ballad Of The Sin Eater
Last night was one of the more memorable concerts I've ever been to. Not so much because it was Ted Leo, who I've seen at least 8 or 9 times now, but for the circumstances of what happened halfway through the show. The last couple times I saw him, I wrote about how I gradually went from going to Ted Leo shows alone, to bringing along my girlfriend, to her bringing along her brother, to him bringing along his girlfriend. This time, there were six of us: me, J.G., her brother John, and 3 of his friends. Plus I ran into my friend Chris (who I hear has a blog now, though I've yet to see it) and a couple of his people, so the posse I go to Ted Leo shows with has really grown over the years.
We missed the first opening band but saw the 2nd, Jai Alai Savant, who I guess are a kind of new band and were pretty good. Very dub/reggae-ish post-punk, so I can see why Ted brought them on tour. He jumped up onstage during what was already quickly becoming the best song of their set, the one with the silly title about Scarlett Johansson, and played a tambourine and sang backup.
Between bands, the soundman was playing house music or something with a thumping beat, and when Ted was ready to start playing and the soundman hadn't turned the record off yet, Ted started playing along and ended up doing a Daft Punk cover full on for a few minutes, which was pretty funny. I'm pretty happy that "2nd Ave, 11A.M." has become a live staple, I never get tired of that one, and the Shake The Sheets stuff is aging pretty well. There were about four new songs in the set, and I knew "Some Beginner's Mind" from the practice space demos he'd posted on his site earlier this year. He introduced a couple of the other new songs by name, but the only one I don't know the name of, the first one they played, was my favorite at the last show and at this one. I have no idea when the next album is coming out but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
(Edit 8/4/06: An anonymous commenter pointed out that the name of the new song I didn't know the title of is "Sons Of Cain," and based on that info I found this blog, which has an mp3 and video footage of the show where the song was played for the first time last year.)
The Pharmacists had been onstage for almost an hour, and were almost through one of the new songs, when the lights went out. I'd heard about a lot of blackouts in Fells Point, a few blocks from our apartment, over the past few days, but not in the part of town where the Ottobar is, so it was kind of a surprise. There were a few minutes of confusion and optimism as people kind of talked amongst themselves and waited for the power to come back on. When it became clear that it probably wasn't going to anytime soon, Ted decided to keep the show going with no electricity. And the crowd was willing to stick it out, even with no AC. Some wiseass shouted for "Since U Been Gone," which Ted posted a cover of on his site last year and was then inundated with requests for it and vowed that he'd never play it. But given the circumstances, he made an exception, and sang it a cappella and led the audience in a singalong, still clutching the mic stand presumably out of force of habit. After a couple more singalongs. He was able to borrow an acoustic guitar from a member of one of the opening bands, and played a couple more songs. Ted preceded the Lungfish cover, which he released on a split single a few years ago, by shouting out "the best band ever from Baltimore," and it was kind of funny to see that barely anyone in the room knew who he was talking about.
At that point, the venue people insisted that everyone clear out of the venue. So Ted walked right out the front door, still playing guitar, and most of the crowd followed him out. I'm not sure what song he was playing out there at first, but it was followed by a big singalong of "Ballad Of The Sin Eater" in the middle of Howard Street, with people standing in the way of one of the lanes of traffic. After a few minutes of that, the Ottobar staff told everyone to take it to the alley next to the club, but apparently Ted disappeared or went back into the club around that time. The post-blackout singalongs were all kind of awkward and it was hard to hear him unless everyone was quiet, which was rare. And I'm still a little bummed that the proper set was cut short and we probably missed out on a few Tyranny Of Distance songs for the encore. But still, that was a pretty unpredictable night that I won't forget anytime soon.
(Edit 8/6/06: The incident was reported on Pitchfork, although I'm pretty sure that one witness's account of Ted falling off the stage isn't right. I was over on the other end of the stage so I'm not 100% sure, but it looked to me like he jumped off the right side of the stage, which is right by the front door of the club, while still strumming the Lungfish song, and kept playing to lead the audience Pied Piper-style out the door for the impromptu street performance.)
(Edit 8/11/06: Another related news bulletin on Pitchfork, this time a couple YouTube videos of Ted's performance on Howard Street.)
One More Time [Daft Punk cover] / Little Dawn / 2nd Ave, 11A.M. / Sons Of Cain / Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone? / The One Who Got Us Out / Some Beginner's Mind (mp3) / Colleen / Me And Mia / Counting Down The Hours / The High Party / Who Do You Love
post-blackout singalong: Since U Been Gone [Kelly Clarkson cover] / Maps [Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover] / Don't Stop Believin' [Journey cover] / Dirty Old Town [Ewan McColl cover] / To Whom You Were Born (mp3) [Lungfish cover] / Mace and Grenades [Hugh Masekela cover] / Ballad Of The Sin Eater
Last night was one of the more memorable concerts I've ever been to. Not so much because it was Ted Leo, who I've seen at least 8 or 9 times now, but for the circumstances of what happened halfway through the show. The last couple times I saw him, I wrote about how I gradually went from going to Ted Leo shows alone, to bringing along my girlfriend, to her bringing along her brother, to him bringing along his girlfriend. This time, there were six of us: me, J.G., her brother John, and 3 of his friends. Plus I ran into my friend Chris (who I hear has a blog now, though I've yet to see it) and a couple of his people, so the posse I go to Ted Leo shows with has really grown over the years.
We missed the first opening band but saw the 2nd, Jai Alai Savant, who I guess are a kind of new band and were pretty good. Very dub/reggae-ish post-punk, so I can see why Ted brought them on tour. He jumped up onstage during what was already quickly becoming the best song of their set, the one with the silly title about Scarlett Johansson, and played a tambourine and sang backup.
Between bands, the soundman was playing house music or something with a thumping beat, and when Ted was ready to start playing and the soundman hadn't turned the record off yet, Ted started playing along and ended up doing a Daft Punk cover full on for a few minutes, which was pretty funny. I'm pretty happy that "2nd Ave, 11A.M." has become a live staple, I never get tired of that one, and the Shake The Sheets stuff is aging pretty well. There were about four new songs in the set, and I knew "Some Beginner's Mind" from the practice space demos he'd posted on his site earlier this year. He introduced a couple of the other new songs by name, but the only one I don't know the name of, the first one they played, was my favorite at the last show and at this one. I have no idea when the next album is coming out but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
(Edit 8/4/06: An anonymous commenter pointed out that the name of the new song I didn't know the title of is "Sons Of Cain," and based on that info I found this blog, which has an mp3 and video footage of the show where the song was played for the first time last year.)
The Pharmacists had been onstage for almost an hour, and were almost through one of the new songs, when the lights went out. I'd heard about a lot of blackouts in Fells Point, a few blocks from our apartment, over the past few days, but not in the part of town where the Ottobar is, so it was kind of a surprise. There were a few minutes of confusion and optimism as people kind of talked amongst themselves and waited for the power to come back on. When it became clear that it probably wasn't going to anytime soon, Ted decided to keep the show going with no electricity. And the crowd was willing to stick it out, even with no AC. Some wiseass shouted for "Since U Been Gone," which Ted posted a cover of on his site last year and was then inundated with requests for it and vowed that he'd never play it. But given the circumstances, he made an exception, and sang it a cappella and led the audience in a singalong, still clutching the mic stand presumably out of force of habit. After a couple more singalongs. He was able to borrow an acoustic guitar from a member of one of the opening bands, and played a couple more songs. Ted preceded the Lungfish cover, which he released on a split single a few years ago, by shouting out "the best band ever from Baltimore," and it was kind of funny to see that barely anyone in the room knew who he was talking about.
At that point, the venue people insisted that everyone clear out of the venue. So Ted walked right out the front door, still playing guitar, and most of the crowd followed him out. I'm not sure what song he was playing out there at first, but it was followed by a big singalong of "Ballad Of The Sin Eater" in the middle of Howard Street, with people standing in the way of one of the lanes of traffic. After a few minutes of that, the Ottobar staff told everyone to take it to the alley next to the club, but apparently Ted disappeared or went back into the club around that time. The post-blackout singalongs were all kind of awkward and it was hard to hear him unless everyone was quiet, which was rare. And I'm still a little bummed that the proper set was cut short and we probably missed out on a few Tyranny Of Distance songs for the encore. But still, that was a pretty unpredictable night that I won't forget anytime soon.
(Edit 8/6/06: The incident was reported on Pitchfork, although I'm pretty sure that one witness's account of Ted falling off the stage isn't right. I was over on the other end of the stage so I'm not 100% sure, but it looked to me like he jumped off the right side of the stage, which is right by the front door of the club, while still strumming the Lungfish song, and kept playing to lead the audience Pied Piper-style out the door for the impromptu street performance.)
(Edit 8/11/06: Another related news bulletin on Pitchfork, this time a couple YouTube videos of Ted's performance on Howard Street.)
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 03, 2006 at 2:36 AM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Anonymous : 1:34 PM
Rollie Fingers : 6:05 PM