bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

friday, july 25th

comedian joel mchale

(from the soup)

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, july 26th

bon iver

bowerbirds

@ the museum of fine arts

sunday, july 27th

the new collisions (debut)

red quiet

melt

@ tt the bears

sunday, july 27th

sunfold

antiques

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

we are scientists

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, july 30th

earlimart

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

spiritualized

the dirtbombs

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, july 31st

the police

elvis costello & the impersonators

@ the tweeter center

friday & saturday

august 1st & 2nd

eddie vedder

liam finn

solo @ the opera house

saturday, august 2nd

wolf parade

@ the paradise

monday, august 4th

coldplay

@ the garden

tuesday, august 5th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 6th

neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3)

rogue wave

jack johnson

@ the tweeter center

saturday, august 9th

margot & the nuclear so and so's

@ the middle east

saturday, august 9th

melvins

@ the paradise

sunday, august 10th

ho-ag

six finger satellite

the in-out

certainly, sir

@ great scott

tuesday, august 12th

thao nguyen with

the get down stay down

david schultz & the skyline

pepi ginsberg

@ tt the bears

tuesday, august 12th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 13th

radiohead

grizzly bear

@ the tweeter center

thursday, august 14th

grizzly bear

violens

outside in the courtyard

@ the museum of fine arts

friday, august 15th

the ex

getachew mekuria

debo band

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, august 16th

+/- (plus minus)

broken river prophet (cd release!)

animal hospital

ba-na-nas

free kickass cupcakes from 9-10pm!

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, august 19th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 20th

human league, belinda carlisle, abc,

flock of seagulls, naked eyes

@ the bank of america pavilion

thursday, august 21st

yndi halda

caspian

irepress

@ tt the bears

friday, august 22nd

obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc)

@ the middle east

saturday, august 23rd

amo joy!

franklin bruno

(from nothing painted blue)

one happy island (ep release!)

@ the lily pad

saturday, august 23rd

newbury comics / unnatural axe

30th anniversary bash

the meatmen, queers, nasties,

unnatural axe, sleazies

@ the middle east down

tuesday, august 26th

the final installment of...

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed august residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 27th

liz phair performing

'exile in guyville'

@ the paradise

wednesday, august 27th

xiu xiu

prurient

@ the paradise

monday, september 1st

the juan maclean

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 5th

silver jews

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, september 6th

my morning jacket

@ the bank of america pavilion

sunday, september 7th

ryan adams & the cardinals

@ the bank of america pavilion

tuesday, september 9th

paul weller

@ the berklee performance center

saturday, september 13th

wfnx disorientation 2008

the kooks, flogging molly,

alkaline trio, rogue wave,

and more to be announced

@ bank of america pavilion

monday, september 15th

james

@ the paradise

tuesday, september 16th

a place to bury strangers

@ the paradise

thursday, september 18th

the walkmen

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 19th

sigur ros

@ the bank of america pavilion

friday, september 19th to

sunday, september 21st

all tomorrow's parties

with my bloody valentine, low

built to spill, mogwai, shellac,

polvo, yo la tengo, lilys, autolux

dinosaur jr, mercury rev, & more

@ the catskills in nyc

monday, september 22nd

mogwai

fuck buttons

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, september 23rd

writer dennis lehane

(release day for 'the given day')

@ the coolidge corner theatre

wednesday, september 24th

low

@ the museum of fine arts boston

saturday, september 27th

built to spill

performing 'perfect from now on'

dinosaur jr.

meat puppets

@ the orpheum

sunday, september 28th

the bird and the bee

willoughby

@ great scott

thursday, september 30th

boston spaceships

(gbv's robert pollard)

big dipper

@ the paradise

sunday, october 5th

pinback

@ the paradise

monday, october 6th

the wedding present

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, october 6th

stereolab

monade

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 8th

wire

@ the middle east downstairs

sunday, october 12th

the residents

@ showcase live, foxboro

sunday, october 12th

the notwist

@ the roxy

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

friday, october 17th

jonathan richman

with drummer tommy larkin

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, october 18th

ra ra riot

walter meego

the morning benders

@ the middle east

tuesday & wednesday

october 21st & 22nd

billy bragg

@ the somerville theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

lyle lovett & john hiatt

(acoustic, on stage together)

@ the orpheum

thursday, october 30th

of montreal

@ the orpheum

saturday, november 1st

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the orpheum

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Monday, August 28, 2006

Mp3s: Ted Leo live in Cambridge, MA

Ted Leo came to town earlier this month and pulled a nice little bait and switch on an unsuspecting all-ages crowd at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. It'd been years since he'd played a space that small in this area, and I'd fortunately seen him put on some great shows in that very room before he graduated to the much larger downstairs stage. It was no surprise to some that the Sunday matinee show sold out weeks in advance, but I naively figured I had some extra time with students yet to flood back in town. Well, silly me... I completely underestimated Ted's under-18 following and missed out, and was only there by the grace of Craigslist and another fan with an extra. Good thing, because I would have missed something pretty special.

Knowing that show-opener Drew O'Doherty used to be the second guitarist in Ted's band, the Pharmacists, I figured there might be a bit of low-key collaboration between the two solo singer/guitarists. What I didn't expect was to find a drum set and bass amp on stage when I walked into the already-crowded room. Hmmmmmmm. I glanced around for Ted's ace rhythm section, drummer Chris Wilson and bassist Dave Lerner, but saw neither an impressive beard nor a curly mop in the room. Double hmmmmmm. When I came upon Ted & Drew back by the soundboard scribbling setlists, their jokingly evasive explanation confirmed it... this was to be no ordinary solo show.

Yes, after a short but sweet set from Drew (at the end of which Ted joined in for a Springsteen cover as musical hand-off), then a few solo songs from the man himself, the Pharmicists emerged from their 'hiding place' in another room of the MidEast. They walked in halfway through 'Timorous Me', took their places on stage, and proceeded to help Ted blow the roof off the place. The overwhelming enthusiasm of the surprised young-ish crowd filled the room with an energy that fed the band, and they gave it right back to us. It was a rockingly beautiful thing. Even though I was one of the oldest kids in the room (along with Ted himself, and guest backing vocalist Jodi, his talented Secret Star significant other), I sure as hell didn't feel like it.

With full-on Pharmacist action in effect, Drew jumped in on guitar for a few songs as if he'd never left the band, while the trio shared a bunch of new ones to the more-than-receptive fans. Some were familiar, with Ted having posted demo versions of 'Army Bound' and 'Some Beginner's Mind' on his site earlier this year, and the band having performed 'Sons of Cain' during a KEXP studio session in September '05. I'm sharing up the live versions of those three previously-heard new songs, but in keeping with Ted's wishes, I'll let him unveil the other as-yet-unreleased numbers when he's good and ready. They're all worth the wait, especially the absolutely killer 'The Lost Brigade', which made its debut and was a personal highlight.

So here's (most of) the set, including the transitionary Springsteen song...

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

Live at The Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on Sunday afternoon, August 6th, 2006

with Drew O'Doherty...
Dancing In The Dark (Springsteen cover)

solo songs...
01. intro
02. To Whom You Were Born (Lungfish cover)
03. The Sword In The Stone
04. banter
05. Bleeding Powers
06. The High Party
07. Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl)

with the Pharmacists...
08. Timorous Me
09. Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?
10. Little Dawn
11. Sons of Cain (new)
12. banter
13. Some Beginner's Mind (new)
14. banter
15. Me & Mia
16. birthday banter
17. Hearts of Oak
18. Army Bound (new)
19. Crying Over You (new)
20. banter
21. Who Do You Love? (new)
22. Heart Problems
23. Colleen (new)
24. The One Who Got Us Out
25. Counting Down The Hours
26. The Lost Brigade (new)
27. Biomusicology
28. banter
29. Stove By A Whale

Ted Leo will be back on the road for a few dates in mid-September, including a set at the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary weekend on September 8th in Chicago (I'll be there... will you?). Other cities include DC, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, & Houston, and then I imagine he'll be hunkering down to get all those new songs ready for the studio and his eagerly awaited next album. Here's hoping...

Some Leo-centric links...

The Boston Phoenix's On The Download was at the show as well, and wrote it up. Check out their descriptions of the new stuff, although I'm not sure which song they thought was titled 'Catch You On the Way Down'. Did I miss something?

Grab those previously-released Ted Leo demos from the Timorous Me fan site: MP3s: 'Army Bound' & 'Some Beginner's Mind'. You can also grab a live recording of another as-yet-unreleased song over there: MP3: 'La Costa Brava (live)'. Speaking of that very fine fansite, it was sadly hacked awhile back and has been suffering from a bit of neglect since. Hopefully it'll return to its former extensive self sometime soon.

Stream the KEXP studio version of 'Sons of Cain' right here, watch it performed live at a Philly gig in December '05 on YouTube, or snag an ezarchive MP3: 'Sons of Cain' (live).

You Ain't No Picasso wrote about Ted's bloody appearance at the Pitchfork fest back in late July, and Clever Titles Are So Last Summer did the same for a show the night before at the Temple Club in Lansing, MI.

I recently (and finally) ordered up the DVD of the Ted documentary 'Dirty Old Town' from Plexifilm, and it's pretty much a must-have for any TL fan. Stellar footage from the 2003 Coney Island outdoor show (back when Drew was in the band, along with keyboard player Dorien Garry, and Ida Pearle on violin), nice incidental footage of the boardwalk area, and some insightful interview clips with Mr. Leo. DVD extras include a generator-powered Pharmacists performing at the South Street Sea Port during the August 2003 NYC blackout, as well as outtake footage from a July '03 solo appearance at Piano's, hosted by David Cross. Check out a quicktime video clip of the band performing '2nd Ave., 11am' right here, and order the DVD over here.

postscript: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link at lower left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and MZ-RH10 minidisc, saved to .wav and edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s