Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

subhead: "The Little Girls Understand"

Last night Scott and I went to go see Ted Leo at 9:30. (Again, just like The Good the Bad and the Queen, the Ted Leo show was webcast on NPR.) It was a sold out show, so we were both expecting to be annoyed at the crowd. In fact, I didn't think the crowd was all that annoying, but there were many, many girls in the audience. I don't think I've ever seen that many girls in 9:30. 'Course, the types of shows that I usually go to are hard rock or punk or whatever -- the type of music that doesn't usually attract many girls. This was not my usual 9:30 experience, but I was kinda happy about that just so I could get out of my usual (similar to the Good Bad Queen show I went to recently).

I've seen Ted Leo a few times -- at Fort Reno w/ the Evens and at the Black Cat. I dig the music, and I think he puts on a good show. His lyrics can be a bit too earnest for me at times, but I think it's good songwriting overall. I'm a fan. I was surprised, I guess, by the success he's had as demonstrated by the sold out show. I think he played 9:30 last year, and it sold out too. (We didn't go because I didn't think it would sell out, and we waited too long and didn't get tix.) Not sure if he gets the same kind of reaction in other towns he plays, but DC likes him, that's for sure. Especially the girls. And not just young girls, but the post-college set too.

Anyway, enough about the girls. The show was really good. The band sounded tight, the sound was good. They had a second guitarist with them -- I've never seen them as a quartet. They played a lot of stuff off the new record, Living with the Living. And for the most part it all sounded good. One of the highlights, I thought, from the new stuff was Unwanted Things, which is a sort of rock steady reggae song. His voice fits it really well. As Scott pointed out, he sounded like Junior Murvin. And he played all his "hits": Timorous Me (a personal fave), Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone, Me and Mia, etc. Both Scott and I left happy. Oh yea, and I swear 9:30 is using different ink for their handstamps -- mine came off so easily after I got home, I couldn't believe it!