Ted Leo/Pharmacists – Post Election Special

November 20, 2004

In the wake of Super Tuesday, the only show I wanted to be at was the Ted Leo/Pharmacists show at the El Rey. As an album, Shake the Sheets is purposefully, overtly political. It’s material that reflects just how completely overwhelming the past four years has been. It’s a State of the Union for a country in disarray and a hope for something better to come on Election Day. With the election results coming out sideways, Shake The Sheets is now completely recontextualized. Everyone I knew was wandering a bit of a haze that week, and the crowd that gathered was looking to be inspired, to be galvanized. A limp performance was no longer just a bad night, it was now defeatist and disheartening. It’s a bit of pressure.

Ted Leo came out and had no speeches to make, letting his songs do the talking. The stripped power trio lineup had few jams and flourishes, instead powering away at old and new material alike with a burning urgency. “Me and Mia” and “Little Dawn” were flat-out fantastic and old gems like “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?” and “My Vien Ilin” have lost nothing. “Timorous Me” is arguably one of my favorite songs of all time, bringing me to the edge of tears every time I hear it. “The One Who Got Us Out” says to “Take it to the floor of Congress” and “Shake the Sheets” begs to “sweep the halls of arrogance” all the while posing the question “How’re you going to save the world, when the world ain’t ready?” The Pharmacists’ closing statement was a fast and fierce cover of the Stiff Little Fingers’ “Suspect Device,” the echoes of “don’t believe them, don’t believe them” putting an exclamation point to the evening. After the show finished, Ted Leo came back to the stage just to say “Keep the fucking pressure on” as the house lights came on.

In terms of performance, I’m not sure it was any better than the show I saw last February. Leo has proven that he will outwork and outsweat an audience every night of the week, and that his effort should never be questioned, so that wasn’t so different. This show just seemed to mean so much more. I’m not naive enough to say a show can change things, but it was important to remember how to feel again in the face of numbing events. If there was ever really any doubt, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were more than happy to remind us that the sentiments of Shake the Sheets are more relevant than ever, that in the quest for change there’s still a whole lot of walking to do.

Posted in From Blown Speakers