Bomb Repeat Bomb

concert review: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists @ The Mod Club(Toronto, Ontario), May 2, 2007

I went to the Ted Leo and The Pharmacists show last Wednesday(May 2, 2007). I missed first openers Tusks(from Toronto), and caught only a few songs of young Melbourne, Australian trio Love of Diagrams' wiry post-punk but Ted Leo and The Pharmacists' set alone made it an enjoyable evening. The last few times I've seen Ted Leo/Rx it's been as a trio but this time around they were joined by James Canty(of French Toast, Make-Up, Nation of Ulysees) on guitar. The addition of a second guitar resulted in even more blistering versions of songs like "Sons of Cain", "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?", and "Bomb Repeat Bomb". The set list was a good mix of Ted's last four albums("Living For The Living", "Shake The Sheets", "Hearts of Oak", and "The Tyranny of Distance") and included new song "Old Souls Know" plus a few cover songs(The Pogues' "Dirty Old Town" and Chumbawamba's "Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up") during the encore. I've seen Ted Leo live several times and his banter's sort of hit and miss, but this night he had a few zingers - the city of Hamilton, ON got bit twice(poor Hamiltonians, but it was mostly in jest). Ted also said he didn't like the Raptors(but then he said he wasn't necessarily a fan of his hometown New Jersey Nets either, so it's all fair). Eye Weekly and Chartattack reviewed the show so go read their reviews for more specifics accounts on the show. I'm just too lazy at the moment - let's just say, Ted was sweating buckets so you know he was giving it his all. By the way, I've found a new use for my digital camera - I recorded short video clips of each song in the set to help me compile the set list afterwards. I won't bother posting the video clips since they're crappy at best, but the set list is below(and as accurate as I could make it out):

Set List
The Sons of Cain / Dial Up / Me and Mia / Army Bound / Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone? / Old Souls Know / Coleen / The High Party / Annunciation Day - Born on Christmas Day / Bomb Repeat Bomb / Counting Down The Hours / Hearts of Oak / Little Dawn / Bottle of Buckie / Unwanted Things / Biomusicology

Encore
Dirty Old Town / Timourous Me / Walking To Do / Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up (Chumbawamba cover)

MySpace: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists
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Upcoming confirmed shows at Harbourfront Centre - Hawksley Workman will play a free show on June 4, Toronto's Do Make Say Think will be there on Canada Day(along with the previously announced, Final Fantasy), and Ninja Tune's The Cinematic Orchestra will perform as part of the Beats, Breaks and Culture festival sometime between July 6 and 8(my guess is that they'll headline on July 7 which is a Saturday night).

Australian outfit Radio Birdman (apparently legendary in their home country) will be touring North America in June and July and will make a stop for a show in Toronto at Lee's Palace on July 6.

Victoria, BC's Immaculate Machine make their return towards the east coast starting at the end of July and will be in Toronto for a show at Horseshoe Tavern on August 1.

Thanks to A Quiet Revolution for pointing me towards video of Jenn Grant performing on Halifax live show Pop In Sessions. Her debut album "Orchestra For The Moon" comes out on May 15 and Jenn will be back in Toronto for a show at Horseshoe Tavern(with Royal Wood and Tanya Davis) on June 15.

Head over to The Musebox to submit an entry to win tickets to Dinosaur Jr.'s upcoming show in Toronto at Phoenix Concert Theatre on June 8. Check out the CBS website for the band's live performace of new song "Almost Ready" on Late Show With David Letterman.