Ted Leo goes solo

Much to the amusement of everyone who knows me, I used to have a punk rock phase. I suppose this still might not be amusing to my parents, but it was the tamest punk rock phase in the history of such things, and mainly involved wearing hoodies and begging to be allowed to go to concerts at the 9:30 Club.

About two years ago, I pretty much stopped going to shows. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'll go out on a limb and say it had something to do with my growing aversion to crowds, my shrinking bank account and a never ending pile of graduate school applications.

Every once in a while, I still check Pollstar (an abysmal, but useful, website) to see if anyone fun is coming to town. Almost inevitably this leads me to discovering that the Decemberists will be playing in a week and tickets have sold out.

Last week, however, it led to the brilliant discovery that Ted Leo would be playing in Cambridge on a Saturday night. Tickets weren't available online anymore, but my friend and I got to Central Square early and picked some up at the door.

(For the record, I have never payed $12 for a show before and it's hard for me to describe the radiant joy I felt over not paying Ticketmaster "convenience fees".)

While we were waiting in line (at the bar) to purchase our tickets, a guy walked up to the bartender and asked if he could give her a guest list. Here's a tip for how to act cool in front of celebrities: Don't recognize them.

Ok, it's not that I didn't recognize Ted Leo. I was 99% sure it was him (who else would have a guest list?), but he did look different. He apologized to me for holding up the bartender/ticket seller and I smiled and said something extremely cool, like: "Not a problem".

If I had a brain, I would have taken advantage of the opportunity to request "The High Party." Perhaps he knew this, because he played it anyway. It was something like this:



He actually played a number of tracks off of Hearts of Oak, but only a few songs from his later albums.

While the concert itself was great, I left with two major gripes:

1. T.T. the Bear's (Place) might be the worst venue in Boston. Maybe it's just not meant to hold bands that are going to sell out, but that seems like a pretty poor business plan if you ask me.
2. Scenesters, of any age, are ridiculous. The place was packed with people who looked like they'd come out on a Saturday night to stand very very still and listen to music they didn't know at all. A few people got into it when he played "Me and Mia", but that was about the extent of it.

Also, tall people. Why are you always right in front of me?

Those things aside, the show was a lot of fun, and if Ted Leo is coming to your town to play solo, I recommend that you check it out. Maybe he'll even end it on this: