It’s a Saturday night at Webster Hall in New York City and the masses are ready to get their rock on. You can see the twenty-something hipsters tightly-clenching their beers in anticipation of something good. The teens and hardcore kids in attendance are marking their territory in front of the stage and prepping to work up a sweat, while the middle-age folks are flashing back to their punk rock loving pasts while perched in the balcony. Moral of the story: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists pull one hell of a wide—and excitable—demographic.
From the opening chords of “The Sons of Cain,” off their latest release, Living with the Living, the crowd let loose and started to pogo and thrash about without a care in the world - but it wasn’t only the crowd getting a workout. Leo and his crew put their backs into every song as if each one was a dramatic encore. They sweat and swayed as much as the fist pumping youngsters in the front and us old folks up above. And right then and there, you could tell there was a collective joy in the room that reminds one that when there is a mutual love for a band all is right with the world.
Over half of the 90 minute set was made up of new material such as “La Costa Brava,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Colleen” and others—which the crowd ate up—but when they busted out “oldies” like “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?” and “The High Party” it turned into an out and out hootenanny. And the moment the first notes of crowd favorite “Me and Mia” came through the speakers you knew that all were gleefully worshipping at the punk-pop alter of a Mr. Ted Leo. It wasn’t just his own work that brought the house down, however. During the breakdown of a bang-up version of “Little Dawn” Leo and the gang effortlessly dropped into electronic dance mavens Daft Punk’s “One More Time,” which had half the crowd shaking their heads in confusion but jumping on board anyway.
On top of bringing the goods as a tight musical unit, Leo engaged the crowd like only a true keeping-it-real DIY artist can. He chatted, joked and even gave a shout out to his mom in the crowd. But he really gave back when his thirty-something self jumped into a pumped up—and appreciative—crowd during a rousing sing-along to Chumbawamba’s “Rappoport’s Testament: I Never Gave Up”…yes, I said it, Chumbawamba. They are noted anarchists. Ted is a political dude. It makes sense. It turned from a rock show to a rally as all started chanting together, “I never gave up, I never gave up, I crawled in the mud, but I never gave up;” he sure as hell didn’t.
So as the curfew hit on that Saturday night at Webster Hall, and the lights came back on, none of us wanted Ted and those Pharmacists to give up. Everyone in that room—from the band, to the crowd, to the merch guy—were having too much damn fun and were willing to crawl through the mud for it not to end.
--Erika Clarke
