[...music...]: ted leo & the pharmacists @ la sala rossa

2007-05-04

ted leo & the pharmacists @ la sala rossa

i went to the show tonight with yeni, feeling very excited. i've mentioned several times in this blog, how much i love the man and his music, and so it is unnecessary to repeat how big of a fan i am.

vague angels were first. a band i had never heard of. i felt kind of bad for them, since they were playing to an almost empty venue. the music made me think of those scenes in the movies, where the protagonist drives an old car, alone on a long stretch of deserted road, with nothing but the sun and the sand, in order to escape some dark past. it was a mix of dark folkish pop-rock with a hint of country. the singer reminded me of conor oberst, but without the emo nor the angst. bonus points for an attempt at humour in the middle of the set, when the singer said something about bees and the end of mankind.

vague angels:

next were love of diagrams. kind of post-punk, straightforward indie rock. i liked the music; it was kind of catchy. but the vocals were atrocious, awful wailing, perhaps due to faulty equipment?

love of diagrams:

finally, ted leo and the pharmacists were on. great set, lots of energy. decent stage banter, making some jokes in between songs.

unfortunately, i was standing next to the guy exorcising his demons tonight; most of the time, i was trying to avoid being elbowed in the face. also, for some reason, i felt like such a dork in that crowd of cool cats. feeling so very self-conscious, i was not abe to let loose and dance, and enjoy the show as much i would have liked. small disappointments. bah. the hard-working ted leo will surely tour many times more; i will just catch one of his next shows in montreal.

most of the songs were from the new "living with the living":
- the sons of cain (a great way to open tonight's set)
- army bound (my second favourite of the album)
- colleen (not too memorable)
- a bottle of buckie (my favourite of the album)
- bomb.repeat.bomb. (such an angry song)
- annunciation day/born on christmas day (fun and short)
- the unwanted things (reggae-inspired, ugh)
- the lost brigade (with the long instrumental part that dragged on a bit)

from "shake the sheets":
- me and mia (always a hit)
- counting down the hours (my favourite of the album)
- little dawn (follows "counting down the hours" quite smoothly, like on the album)

from "hearts of oak":
- where have all the rude boys gone? (i found out about ted leo and the pharmacists through this song. it remains my favourite of all.)
- the high party (another favourite of this album)

from "the tyranny of distance"
- dial up (i think, unsure of this one)

after the set, ted leo barely left the stage before quickly returning for the encore, saying something like "thanks. there's no point in fucking around." it's so nice that he did not make the crowd wait. songs played during the encore:
- timorous me (my favourite, from "the tyranny of distance")
- walking to do (another fun song)
- ? (i don't recognise this one, maybe it's a cover?)

there were other songs too, but i have a weak memory.

blurry pictures:

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cd purchase: none. i already have all the ted leo albums. the opening bands were good, but did not impress me.

hearing damage: it was the usual loudness, which means my ears will probably still ring until tomorrow morning.

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edit: turns out the last song in the encore was "rappaport's testament: i never gave up", a chumbawamba cover.

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Labels: la sala rossa, love of diagrams, shows, ted leo, vague angels

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