Music Marathon @ The Troubadour

March 9, 2003

OK… so I get to the Troubadour to see the rock show and there’s *5* acts playing. They are The Quails, Erase Errata, Aislers Set, Atom and His Package and Ted Leo / Pharmacists. I knew three of these acts (the first two and the headliner, Ted Leo).

I’d seen the Quails open for Sleater-Kinney, and they’re still super great. They played half new material and half older stuff. Decked out in semi-matching grey outfits (adorned with the words “The Quails No War”), the Quails tumbled through a 40 minute set of heavy grooved, post-punky rock, propelled mostly by Seth Lorinzci’s muscular bass work. I couldn’t hear guitarist Jen’s instrument or vocal, which hurt the performance a lot, as her punchy guitar work and vocal yelps help color the songs. Along with “Riding the Five”, my other favorite part of their set was their cover of the Dick’s “No Fucking War” flowing into their own “Shine a Light.”

[ See the Quails Live in Concert Here ]

The art-rock no-wave antics of Erase Errata were next. I was pretty well prepared for them, as I’d seen them open for Le Tigre over a year ago. Visually, they always get to the stage with striking costuming. As always, they were lit only with blacklit tubes, so that the bright accents of their Flintstone-esque patterns were the only thing visible. Their sound remains pretty much the same, with quirky bass guitar work providing the main melody over noisy guitars and crash heavy, dance beat drumming. As with the Quails, the main vocal of Jenny Hoyston was barely audible. Hoyston doesn’t really sing very loudly, so it was lost in the wash of noise, along with the trumpet and flute playing that she did during the breakdowns. Overall, you could see the audience wasn’t that into it, which is a shame.

[ See Erase Errata Live in Concert ]

Aislers Set arrived shortly after, with a full band (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboard) that seemed to overload the stage. Aislers Set is an indie pop/choral rock sort of band, with delicate vocals and a grand, mini-orchestral sound. The problem with this sort of act (think Stereolab or Belle and Sebastian) is that without a perfect mix and good acoustics, the sound just turns to sludge. The band sounded better when the drums went soft and the main sound was Amy Linton’s shimmery 12 string guitar. When they went to more uptempo songs with livelier drums, the balance seemed off again. I’m going to assume Aislers Set sounds better on record, but in this live setting, they weren’t able to come across. (Sorry, there are no Aislers Set shows online, as far as I could find).

The next act was named Atom and His Package. Atom is basically one dude with a CD player with presequenced material, playing along with a guitar. Atom (or Adam, I guess) sings nerdy punk about Rob Halford, the Washington Redskins and… pretty much anything he can make a funny song about. Imagine They Might Be Giants/Weird Al as a one man band and you’ll start to get the idea. This really wasn’t my bag, but I was stunned to see the people around me singing along and knowing all the words. Not only were people getting into it (which, I can understand, if not necessarily agree with), there were people that had traveled here exclusively to see The Package, and some even left before Ted Leo came on. I was mystified.

[ See Atom and His Package Live in Concert ]

So after what seemed like the eternal undercard, Ted Leo / Pharmacists finally showed up for the main event. It’s difficult to really describe Ted Leo’s sound, as he draws from so much and yet is able to make everything his own. At times, the Pharmacists will sound like the frantic energy of the Jam. When they infuse Stax era soul into their songs, as in “Bridges, Squares”, they wouldn’t feel out of place on Elvis Costello’s Get Happy!!!. “Dead Voices” recalls Big Star’s “In The Streets,” while “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” tosses in a bit of 2-tone feel in a tribute to 2nd wave ska. When Leo loses the band and goes on an overtly political solo number, there are echoes of Billy Bragg. Leo’s voice is usually what separates him out, as he comes in a couple of clicks higher than all the aforementioned singers and more frequently infuses his choruses and hooks with soulful falsetto coos.

After a quick soundcheck, Ted thanked the opening acts and the audience for sticking around for such a long, intense night of music. They were down one Pharmacist, as the keyboard player was sick at home for this tour. Instead, they substituted with violin player Ida Pearle. Once the show started, it was pretty much a torrent of exuberant rock and roll after that. Without a keyboarist and with a harsh sounding guitar, The Pharmacists’ set didn’t sound like the polished material on record. Instead, it was more straight ahead and stripped, pushed forward by the insistent thud of the drummer’s kick pedal. While most of the band looks pretty laid back during the show, Leo spazzes around like his amphetamine fueled mod rock predecessors. Leo burned through most of the material I was familiar with early, (I’m only on true sing-along basis with the first half of Hearts of Oak), and spent the rest of evening rocking me with unfamiliar material.

He set the tone early by going right to “Ballad of the Sin-Eater” by the third or fourth song. For this number, only the rhythm section plays their regular instruments, and the rest of the band picks up random percussion (cowbell, maraca and tambourine). Leo even passes out a couple of spare tambos to the audience, and the result is a houseful of people stomping and bashing at things as a lone bassline goes on and on. It’s an ass-rocking party, and most would use it as a closer. It’s a testament to Leo’s manic energy that he uses it to get the crowd up and alive early, and then keeps it going through the rest of his set through pure will.

Unlike the other bands, Ted Leo set his mike up directly in front of me on the left side of the stage, whereas for the rest of the evening I was mostly facing the bass players. I thought this was pretty cool, but one thing I didn’t realize was how much Ted Leo sweat and gleeked as he sang. There was a pretty consistently fine sheet of mist coming off the guy as he shook around on stage, mostly on me. Next Ted Leo show, I’m bringing a tarp.

[ Watch Ted Leo Live in Concert ]

Posted in From Blown Speakers