Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?

Tonight, for the first time, I saw Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. My friend Amy is a big fan, and I trust her, so I went and checked it out. I know that he was the singer for Chisel, and I kinda liked them, so I thought, hey, why not? Maybe I'll like it. Like it, I did. They had a great opener, too. It was Saturday Looks Good to Me, from Ann Arbor. I swear, they get better every time with their Motown meets the Beach Boys sound. Originally, Radio 4 was supposed to also play, but they had to cancel their tour. I would've liked to have seen them, but I'll deal with it. The show was all ages, and generally those are annoying, but this one wasn't too bad. Lots of cute girls with Xs on their hands. Also lots of local musical luminaries at the show. I saw members of Thunderbirds Are Now!, esQuire, Ko of Ko and the Knockouts, members of the Tiny Steps, at least one former drummer from the Sights, a former guitarist from Bluesong, and I'm sure there were more who I didn't see or recognize. By now, yr prob'ly asking "how was the band?!?" I'll tell you. They were fucking great. I don't know how to explain these guys, but that's why I'm writing this, so I guess I'll have to. Imagine the Jam meets Stiff Little Fingers meets early Wire. That's the closest I can come to a description of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. They're fun, Ted was sweatin' his arse off, and the bass player's white-boy 'fro had a purple halo of stage-lighting. Rock and roll.

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