Ted Leo & The Pharmacists @ Il Motore June 22, 2010

I had been waiting for New Jersey alternative punk-rock band Ted Leo & The Pharmacists to come to Montreal for years now, so their time spent felt only too short. Realizing after the show that they did play nineteen songs, I discovered that enjoying their show removed me from time entirely and placed me simply in the sensation of enjoying Ted Leo & The Pharmacists live.

Although performing from the far left corner of Il Motore’s stage slightly separated from his audience, Ted Leo gave a performance full of energy. With greater speed given to his songs live than found in his recorded material, Ted grew sweaty as the audience attempted to keep up with their clapping. Something I did not expect, however, was a rather sedate audience. Other than the ten or so who began a miniature mosh pit as soon as “Me and Mia”, a fan favourite began, the crowd remained tranquil. Ted spoke with the crowd in between songs. Most impressively, he did most of this in French. He expressed his gratitude towards the opening band Screaming Females, a band also from New Jersey, but there was still something that gave me the impression that he was not totally psyched to be there.

Performed were eight songs from his most recent album “The Brutalist Bricks”. The bands’ new songs are just as solid as their older material. Like all Ted albums, “The Brutalist Bricks” starts with a bang-“The Mighty Sparrow”. “The Mighty Sparrow” was played near the beginning of their Montreal set list. Also played was one song from “The Tyranny of Distance” (2001), two songs from “Hearts of Oak” (2003), and four from “Shake the Sheets” (2004). The crowd was able to rally up some energy to herald an encore, although with their general lack of enthusiasm I’m surprised Ted even gave one at all. Returning to the stage with a fresh shirt, which read “Happy 400th Quebec!” Ted performed a new song solo. Look out for a new one with the words “Live as if I could…” in it. Continuing in solo, he covered a Nick Lowe song, “So It Goes”. The final song “Timorous Me” began with just Ted. The entire band (Chris Wilson on drums, Marty Key on bass, and James Canty on guitar) joined him for the last half of this upbeat song to close the night.

While I can’t comprehend the sleepy feel of most of the audience on this night, Ted delivered a performance as energetic as you would expect from listening to his recordings and proved that the new album is worth attention for old and new fans alike.

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists are touring through the US and Canada now. See their MySpace for tour details: http://www.myspace.com/tedleo

Screaming Females on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/screamingfemales