I’m seeing a number of concerts this summer and my first was last night with Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. I first heard of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists in 2004 thanks to my then-boyfriend. I thought they were a little cheesy at first but I eventually gave in and admitted that I liked them. They’ve been around since 1999 but for some reason, there are still tons of people who’ve never heard of them. I’ve seen them perform in 2005 and again in 2009, but since I have a talent for never knowing when bands I like are performing, those are the only two times I’ve seen them. I’ve never been a super-fan, but I like their music and happily listen to it when it pops up on my iPod. They perform at South Street Seaport every summer for free and this summer they performed with the band Screaming Females as the opener.
This was Ted Leo’s 10th anniversary show of performing at the seaport so they had a pretty epic set list. They performed a half-dozen randomly chosen songs, their entire first album, and then another 6-8 songs from various albums as an encore. I somehow managed to wander up to the front of the barricade when Screaming Females finished their set and I rocked out for an hour and forty five minutes.
Screaming Females was a pretty great band, though I’m not into the screaming-instead-of-singing thing they had going on during some of their songs. Their lead guitarist, and singer, was an stellar musician though.
I filmed them performing the songs The High Party and The Great Communicator, but unfortunately and stupidly I deleted The High Party (my favorite of the two) by accident off my FlipCam. I uploaded The Great Communicator to YouTube here, and apologies for the awful (it’s really, really bad) sound quality as it was taken on my point-and-shoot. From the front row I finally got to watch how epic of a musician Ted Leo is. He’s just ridiculous, in a good way! I can’t actually find the words to describe how amazing he is to watch.
Ted Leo’s not performing in New York again anytime soon, but if they’re in your neighborhood you should definitely check them out. Enjoy the photos!
That Girl Allison 