Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at Black Cat 10/8 and Of Montreal at 9:30 10/9

Man, am I ever happy that these two shows were back to back. Otherwise, I'd be extremely pissed at Ted Leo. And I love Ted Leo. It's gonna take multiple listens to get into the new album, as it's just more punky than I like. And the crowd... Man, I hate people under the age of 21 at punk shows. And they stink. The fat dude in front of me was not only taking up the space of about four people (literally, he actually was taking up the space for four people by the end of Ted Leo's set), he also smelled worse than almost anyone I've ever smelled. When the ass stood in front of me with a couple songs left in Ted's set, I wasn't actually that upset, because it gave me a buffer between his sweat glands and my nose.

On to the actual music: Future of the Left sucked. I really didn't like it at all, it was mainly noise. I spent most of the set looking at the Against Me! merchandise and wondering what was the true opposite of Against Me!: was it For Me! or For You!? The former is the opposite of the meaning, but the latter is the opposite of the actual words. This is deep, man. We didn't stick around for Against Me! due to us wanting to get the hell out of there. I imagine it would have answered some questions. Ted himself started the set by saying that he'd be playing a bunch of new songs, and he ended up playing about half completely awesome songs (Army Bound, Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?, Me & Mia, and the like) and half new songs, none of which really stuck out in my mind. I've seen him now four times, and this is the second time it wasn't a full set (after the Operation Ceasefire show), but this is the first time I've not actively enjoyed the show. Basically little went well. The food beforehand at Rice (which we had before the Destroyer show in April) was kinda disappointing, as the ginger tempura wasn't as good, although the Tom Yum Goong was quite good.

The next night, however, we had a better plan. Starting with Peruvian chicken, some other mental refreshments, and off to the show to make sure to see the opener. Love Is All is Swedish pop. Which I had heard of, but I was going to see Of Montreal, so I didn't know that they were opening on this tour. But I'm always up for Scandinavian pop, and this brand of dance pop was a lot of fun. When they introduced a song as by one of the saxophonists' favorite bands, and they started into the drums of I Ran, I got a little bit of a charge. Just a fun opener, and a great way to get everyone excited for the headliners. Getting there early had allowed us to get my favorite area, on the edge of the balcony, so you can see basically the entire stage, important for this show. And the show was insane and awesome. I really can't recommend seeing them enough. And since so many other people have written about the show (let alone the ability to listen to the show), I feel like writing more is a little bit of overkill. If you follow one link, follow the "about the show" one, as it has many pictures. I will say that Kevin Barnes was not naked during the show (unlike the show in Vegas in 2007), but the show was probably the gayest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen gay porn. Apparently, it's not supposed to be straight-up queer, but it's kind of hard to miss that when he's singing about sucking dick. And yep, that interview does prove I was right, MBG.

Setlist from NPR:
Id Engager
So Begins Our Alabee
Triphallus, To Punctuate!
She's a Rejecter
For Our Elegant Caste
Touched Something's Hollow
An Eluardian Instance
Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
Gallery Piece
Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)
Women's Studies Victims
St. Exquisite's Confessions
Eros' Entropic Tundra
Nonpareil of Favor
October is Eternal
Wicked Wisdom
Disconnect the Dots
Knight Rider
And I've Seen a Bloody Shadow
Plastis Wafers
Beware Our Nubile Miscreants
Mingusings
A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger
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Gronlandic Edit
Requiem For O.M.M.2

All throughout the next day I had Of Montreal songs stuck in my head, but none more than "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger". I would have been miserable at attempting to write up a setlist, as I could have sworn they played songs multiple times. Which of course, they didn't, but I still loved it. Also, Chris Cooley was sitting not ten feet from where I was standing. He hasn't written it up on his blog yet, though.

EDIT: I came out of the show and found MBG and said, "I think I'm gay for Kevin Barnes." I doubt I'm the only one.