Post a Comment        E-mail To A Friend        Join The List

Ted Leo and the Pharmicists, 40 Watt, 3/23/06

by T.O. Lawrence
04/04/2006

There is a myriad of easy, cost-efficient ways to ruin a concert. From the band itself to the crowd that listens to it, somehow there's always something to make a show a little less than it could be. Maybe the lead singer is sick. Maybe your ex-girlfriend is there. Or maybe the couple dry humping next to you is just a little too close for comfort. But sometimes, only sometimes, will you have a show that racks up over a dozen faults before it even starts.

And yet it still rocks.

This was the case last Wednesday as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists took the stage. The whole crew was there: drunkards from high school you did your best to forget, the sea of bobbing heads, either too weary or disinterested to actually dance or sing and even the lovely phlegm-gurgle of a throat cold resting nicely in Mr. Leo's throat. The next fourteen songs were looking to be a nice, toasty hell on earth.

And yet it still rocked.

Sixteen songs they played, goofy hair, geeky garb and all. His voice disappearing, a bloody larynx landed on the floor where his set list should have been. Out in the crowd, he called for someone to sing with him, but few responded. He pumped them, he jived them, he made fun of his broken voice and did just about everything a front-man could do to get the audience to start caring. But they didn't.

And yet it still rocked.

In the end, it could have been any show. Any show where every possible thing worked against it. But it just goes to show that with some ridiculous guitar work, a singer who can belt out vocals without the use of his throat and a group who can keep themselves excited despite the opposing force of the audience.

No. Wait, this couldn't have been just any band. This was Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. And so it rocked.

Name
Email
URL
Body
Are you human?