Photos: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists [Chicago, IL; 04/28/07]

Capturing Ted Leo in still frame is akin to videotaping an apple; it works, but one feels the wrong device is being employed. Standing agog through 80 minutes of Leo's whirling dervish act, one wonders just exactly how he replaces the protein in his vegan diet: despite getting a serious shine on (figuratively and otherwise) circa tune two, Ted never faltered this past weekend at Chicago's Metro.

Sweaty Teddy and his pill-counters spread their set nearly evenly between back catalog highlights and Living With the Living, pausing only briefly for a solo take on Joe Strummer's "Johnny Appleseed". The added oomph of the live setting wears well on "The Sons of Cain" and "Army Bound" (and leaves no room to pick up that confounded whistle in "A Bottle of Bucky"), but "La Costa Brava" and "The Unwanted Things" quickly show their haunches, pleasing though they were to the youthful crowd.

Even the lesser material manages to captivate on the shoulders of Leo's boundless cheerleading, and one can never hear "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" or "Me and Mia" too often. After nearly an hour and a half of rudeness-- including an encore-capping all-star jam with the Jai-Alai Savant's Ralph Darden and openers Love of Diagrams-- the set's 10 p.m. endtime couldn't have come soon enough. It's tiring, watching somebody pogo about like that. Tiring, but satisfying.

Ted Leo wraps up his North American tour this month, barely catches his breath, and then does it all over again in Europe.








Living Live:

05-02 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club #%
05-03 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa #*
05-04 Boston, MA - Avalon #
05-05 New York, NY - Webster Hall #
06-02 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-04 Bordeaux, France - Heretic
06-05 St. Etienne, France - L'Assommoir
06-06 Milan, Italy - Magnolia
06-07 Soliera, Italy - Artevive
06-08 Livorno, Italy - The Cage
06-10 Vienna, Austria - Chelsea
06-11 Innsbruck, Austria - Weekender
06-12 Munich, Germany - Feierwerk
06-13 Stuttgart, Germany - Schocken
06-14 Nuremberg, Germany - K4
06-15 Cologne, Germany - Gebäude 9
06-16 Ludwigshafen, Germany - Das Haus
06-17 Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
06-18 Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club
06-19 Hamburg, Germany - Molotov
06-20 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
06-21 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
06-22 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
06-23 Aarschot, Belgium - DE Klinker
06-24 Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
06-25 Paris, France - Nouvelle Casino
06-27 Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
06-28 Galway, Ireland - Roisin Dubh
06-29 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Laverys Bunker
06-30 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's Wah-Wah Hut
07-01 Leeds, England - The Cockpit
07-02 Nottingham, England - The Maze
07-03 Bristol, England - Thelka Social
07-04 Newcastle, England - Cumberland Arms
07-05 Brighton, England - Pressure Point
07-06 London, England - Borderline
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)

# with Love of Diagrams
% with Tusk
* with Vague Angels