Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at The Space - 12/2

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists filled The Space to the brim last night. The place was packed, and as soon as Ted came out with the rest of his band, the crowd went wild. Ted's band was supported by two opening acts, punk group The Gang and glam artist Kristeen Young.

The Gang came out first with their anthem-y drone punk. They were fun, but they didn't offer anything real unique. They had a lot of energy, and they were having a lot of fun, but overall, I didn't find myself too interested. Granted, there were a few songs that I found really catchy, so they have some promise.

Kristeen Young came out afterwards wearing a very punky outfit with her drummer/tough guy Baby Jeff. When she first started belting out dissonant chords on her synthesizer and singing in a creepy soprano voice, I didn't quite know what to think. But as soon as the second song came on, I started to grasp her music a lot more. I'd say she played dark pop music. It was so good, though. The way she mixed those dissonant chords with her beautiful, eclectic voice really appealed to me. She put on a really good set.

As soon as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists came out on stage, their presence commanded the entire audience. Ted was very charismatic with the audience. Before him and his band started to play, someone in the audience yelled, "Play (unintelligible) eventually!" and Ted remarked upon the politeness of the individual in a joking manner. Though he was a good talker, the night was starting to get a little late, so I was hoping that he wouldn't push back his set too much.

When the band started playing, I saw such a high energy that I've never seen in The Space before (out of my two other times). A mosh pit of flailing crazy-men began, so I had to move myself away from them in order to focus on the music more. Though I am not entirely familiar with all of Ted Leo's work, I could tell how great of a musician he is from his performance. He seems like a really smart guy, too. Really politically charged (in his latest album). I really enjoyed his punk ballads combined with his beautiful singing voice that would occasionally creep to falsetto. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists played songs including "Colleen", "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?", "I'm A Ghost", and "Biomusicology".

Ted played one of his newer songs "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb" which I found to be highly remiscient of Rage Against the Machine in the vocal and lyrical style. When I first heard the song from the music video, I didn't dig it completely, but the live version convinced me of the quality from within the song.

All in all, it was a great concert. I'm starting to like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists a lot more, and I hope to see them again in the future. Surely, I'm going to pick up more of his recordings. I'll end this concert review with the music video for "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb" I'm telling you, it's good stuff.