Ted Leo And The Pharmacists
Newcastle Cluny, May 11, 2010
It was a night when Ted Leo hurtled through his set as he and the Pharmacists battled against the venue’s curfew. Their playing was on time they delivered their set with enough spare time to come back for an encore.
All photos by David Wala. See more of his work at davidwala.net.
MP3s:
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “The Mighty Sparrow” from The Brutalist Bricks
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Even Heroes Have To Die” from The Brutalist Bricks
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.” from Living with the Living
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Me & Mia” from Shake the Sheets
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?” from Hearts of Oak
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Squeaky Fingers” from The Tyranny of Distance
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Under the Hedge” from The Tyranny of Distance
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Come Baby Come” from Treble in Trouble
me & mia is still one of my favourites!
The hardest working man in show business? Definitely one of the nicest.
I have seen Ted Leo twice. The first time, the drummer cut up his arm on a broken drumstick halfway through the set and had to get taken to the ER. Leo finished the rest of the set with just him and a bass, and it was a seriously kick ass show.
The second time, he was in the middle of a nasty case of strep throat. Aside from having to sip herbal tea in between songs, and a couple of coughing fits, he didn’t slow down once.
I also heard a story about the power going out in the Otto Bar in Baltimore during one of his shows, and he just finished the set all acoustic by candlelight. The guy is just frickin’ invincible
I’ve seen him 11 times since 2001 (I’m a bit of a fan) and I’ve never seen him phone it in–plus, he always tries to keep ticket prices low and, the older I get, the more respect I have for the fact that he really does try to give the under-21 crowd a good experience (even if I keep coming home from shows feeling like I was the oldest one there).
And his touring schedule is enough to bring down most.
I think he’s doing a pretty good job of carrying the Joe Strummer “nicest guy in punk” torch.