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recommended boston area events

saturday, march 13th

butch walker & the black widows

will dailey

@ the paradise


sunday, march 14th

a special screening of the

white stripes tour documentary

"under the great white northern lights"

free admission / prize pack drawing

10pm @ the otherside cafe


sunday, march 14th

carbon leaf

@ the paradise


monday, march 15th

one happy island

standard fare

summer cats

@ great scott


monday, march 15th

letting up despite great faults

the brother kite

plumerai

singing bridges

@ the middle east upstairs


tuesday, march 16th

bacchus king

croquet

cathy cathodic

the ugly fucklings

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, march 18th

apollo sunshine

drug rug

@ the paradise


friday, march 19th

i, pistol

mascara

planetoid

forgetful jones

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 20th

the whitehaus family blastfest

needy visions, manners,

morgan shaker, avi jacob,

and many more

@ cambridge ymca theatre


saturday, march 20th

air

am

@ berklee performance center


sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott


thursday, march 25th

"thursday night alright!" with

the beatings

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott


thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise


friday, march 26th

eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)

ryan lee crosby

ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)

@ the somerville armory


friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

magic magic

@ the paradise


saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues


sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise


monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott


tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears


tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott


thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

cassavettes

the grownup noise

kingsley flood (cd release)

spouse

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, april 3rd

black rebel motorcycle club

alberta cross

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

dawn landes & the hounds

@ the paradise


sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

black fortress of opium

@ tt the bears


tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 6th

ben fold & a piano

kate miller-heidke

@ the house of blues


wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott


thursday, april 8th

faces on film

hands & knees

st. claire (cd release!)

mr. sister

@ tt the bears


thursday, april 8th

thom yorke + atoms for peace

flying lotus

@ the citi/wang theatre


friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

screaming females

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott


sunday, april 11th

fanfarlo

lawrence arabia

robert francis

@ the paradise


monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 12th

titus andronicus

the babies

@ great scott


thursday, april 15th

jakob dylan with guests

neko case + kelly hogan

@ the wilbur theatre


thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, april 16th

have nots (vinyl release!)

the appreciation post

razors in the night

wicked whiskey

the swaggerin growlers

@ tt the bears


saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

heavy trash (w/jon spencer)

the konks

the cobra-matics

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston


tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

timber timbre

@ the paradise


tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, april 21st

the church

special 30th anniversary

acoustic career retrospective

@ the somerville armory


wednesday, april 21st through

wednesday, april 28th

the 8th annual independent

film festival of boston

@ various boston area theatres

including the somerville + brattle


thursday, april 22nd

the mary onettes

@ great scott


saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise


sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ the great scott


monday, april 26th

echo + the bunneymen

hatcham social

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues


thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise


friday, april 30th

the everyday visuals

the lights out

the flying machines

aloud

@ tt the bears


friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues


friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, may 1st

white rabbits

here we go magic

@ the paradise


monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 4th

gregory & the hawk

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


tuesday & wednesday

may 4th & 5th

public image ltd.

@ the royale (formerly the roxy)


wednesday & thursday

may 5th & 6th

jonsi (from sigur ros)

@ the house of blues


thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise


friday, may 7th

ok go

earl greyhound

robert francis

@ the paradise


saturday, may 8th

local natives

@ great scott


tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise


thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott


saturday, may 22nd

killing joke

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 18th

spectrum (featuring sonic boom

from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)

with the broken river prophet

@ the middle east upstairs


tuesday, may 25th

the smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

hearts!attack

a smile and a ribbon

horowitz

@ the lizard lounge


wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues


friday, may 28th

mono

the twilight sad

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, june 2nd

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise


wednesday, june 2nd

ryan bingham & the dead horses

@ tt the bears


wednesday & thursday

june 2nd & 3rd

the national

@ the house of blues


friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise


friday, june 18th

reigning sound

movers & shakers

triplethick

@ tt the bears


saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden


sunday + monday

june 20th + 21st

isis

melvins

totimoshi

@ the paradise


thursday + saturday

august 19th + 21st

tom petty + the heartbreakers

my morning jacket

@ the comcast center


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.

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