Last night I realized that I have never seen Ted Leo a) play a full set or b) play with his complete band, The Pharmacists. Last night, I finally got to see him play at least will the rest of his bandmates at the first of what seem to be many planned fundraisers to save CBGBs from becoming a memory. After patiently... very very very patiently waiting through several fairly unremarkable garage bands (Willowz being the real exception to this in my opinion), Ted Leo and co finally took the stage around 12:15 and played an energized set. The highlights including "Me and Mia" and my personal favorite "The High Party" back to back, followed by the incredibly powerful closer of "The Ballad of the Sin Eater." After wishing us all goodnight, Ted returned solo to the stage to perform my second favorite cover of his (guess what the first one is..), "Dancing in the Dark."
Honestly, I rarely rarely ever go to CBGBs, mostly because it's rare that an artist as good as Ted Leo plays there. But still, the place is an institution and I don't think it should be shut down. As Ted Leo said at the end of the night, "good fucking luck."
Ted Leo - The High Party