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Apples in Stereo
[02.12.2007]

Assembly of Dust
[02.04.2007]

The Hackensaw Boys
[01.27.2007]

Paul Luc
[01.20.2007]

Local Honey / Slim Cessna
[01.13.2007]

Bob Seger
[12.14.2006]

Skinks / Rahim / Transcontinental Booze Hounds
[11.25.2006]

The Big Sleep
[11.18.2006]

Local Honey / The Izzys
[11.10.2006]

Cloud Cult
[11.07.2006]

Grand Buffet / Magnolia Electric Co
[10.31.2006]

Norman Nardini
[10.28.2006]

Wilco
[10.20.2006]

Wilco
[10.18.2006]

Kid Congo Powers
[10.12.2006]

Dave Alvin
[09.23.2006]

Wolfmother
[09.22.2006]

Mountain Goats
[09.20.2006]

World Party
[08.27.2006]

Gil Mantera's Party Dream
[08.16.2006]

Whiskey Daredevils / Local Honey
[08.11.2006]

The Silver Jews
[07.28.2006]

The Bottle Rockets / Marah
[07.27.2006]

Slim Cessna's Auto Club
[07.15.2006]

Alejandro Escovedo
[07.10.2006]

Cat Power
[07.09.2006]

Life In Bed / The Transcontinental Booze Hounds
[07.07.2006]

Violent Femmes
[07.01.2006]

Guitar Zack Wiesinger / Pittsburgh Pirates Loss # 54
[06.30.2006]

The Black Crowes \ Robert Randolph \ The Drive-By Truckers
[06.25.2006]

Pearl Jam
[06.23.2006]

The Octopus Project \ Black Moth Super Rainbow \ Amoeba Knievel
[06.19.2006]

The Bottle Rockets
[06.14.2006]

Govt. Mule / Local Honey / Wil E. Tri
[06.08.2006]

Tehran Iran
[06.03.2006]

Astronautalis
[05.25.2006]

Grand Buffet / Cobalt Black
[05.19.2006]

Phil Boyd w/Manny Theiner & Weird Paul / The Codetalkers feat. Col. Bruce Hampton
[05.15.2006]

The Four Seasons Boys
[05.11.2006]

The Supersuckers
[05.02.2006]

The Breakup Society
[04.28.2006]

The Four Seasons Boys / The Gris Gris
[04.19.2006]

Rhett Miller & The Believers
[04.14.2006]

Good Brother Earl
[04.08.2006]

Slim Cessna's Auto Club
[04.03.2006]

"Guitar" Zack Wiesinger
[03.25.2006]

The Minus 5 / The Silos
[03.24.2006]

The Mendoza Line / Great Lake Swimmers
[03.12.2006]

Dave Alvin
[03.10.2006]

Apollo Sunshine
[03.07.2006]

Lyle Lovett / John Hiatt / Joe Ely / Guy Clark
[02.14.2006]

Marah
[02.12.2006]

Marah / Slim Cessna's Auto Club
[11.12.2005]

Ted Leo + Pharmacists / Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
[11.08.2005]

The National
[11.02.2005]

Modey Lemon
[10.07.2005]

Gang of Four
[10.04.2005]

Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
[09.24.2005]

Thunderbirds Are Now!
[09.22.2005]

The Walkmen
[09.17.05]

Circle
[09.15.05]

Akron/Family, Great Lake Swimmers
[09.05.05]

Los Lobos
[08.21.05]

Grand Buffet, Magnolia Electric Co.
[08.20.05]

Joe Ely
[08.19.05]

Solomon Burke
[08.14.05]

Billie Joe Shaver
[08.11.05]

Robert Randolph & The Family Band
[08.07.05]

Oneida
[08.06.05]

Richard Buckner
[07.13.05]

NYC Road Trip
[07.08.05]

Stars
[06.23.05]

Aimee Mann
[06.19.05]

Bobbie "Blue" Bland, Michael Penn, Erin McKeown, OPEK, The Mavens
[06.18.05]

The Holmes Brothers
[06.15.05]

Drive-By Truckers, Deep Purple
[06.11.05]

Los Lonely Boys, Martin Sexton
[06.10.05]

Marah
[06.08.05]

Brant Bjork & The Bros.
[06.03.05]

Railroad Earth
[05.20.05]

Andrew Bird
[05.17.05]

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
[05.13.05]

Rosavelt
[05.12.05]

Green Day
[04.23.05]

The Shins
[04.15.05]

Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney
[04.14.05]

The Beakup Society, Whiskey Daredevils
[03.25.05]

Apollo Sunshine
[03.12.05]

From The Jayhawks: Gary Louris and Mark Olson
[03.11.05]

Clem Snide, Archer Prewitt
[03.07.05]

Norman Nardini
[03.04.05]

The SPUDS, Norman Nardini
[02.18.05]

The Comas
[02.15.05]

Tarbox Ramblers
[02.12.05]

Black Tie Revue
[01.28.05]

Elvismas, Shade
[01.08.2005]

Chalk Outline Party, Comrad
[12.18.2004]

One Star Hotel
[12.10.2004]

Ted Leo + Pharmacists
[12.03.2004]

Thanksgiving Eve / The Italian Club / Blairsville, Pa

Sue Foley
[11.20.2004]

The Whiskey Daredevils
[11.19.2004]

The Arcade Fire, The Cynics
[11.15.2004]

Steelers v. Patriots
[10.31.2004]

Mike Watt
[10.21.2004]

Magnolia Electric Co.
[10.14.2004]

The Mendoza Line
[10.09.2004]

The Black Keys
[10.07.2004]

The Secret Machines
[10.06.2004]

The Fiery Furnaces, Charles Bissell (The Wrens)
[09.23.2004]

I didn’t arrive at the Brew House on the South Side until after 9:30 P.M. Upon entering, there were some people standing around, Manny manning the front desk, and a sign on the wall reading “Sold Out. Sorry. Bigger Venue Next Time.” There was an initial panic on my part as I had been anticipating this show for a while. I’d been listening to Ted Leo’s new disk “Shake The Sheets” for weeks now and had grown to love many songs on this album. Having missed his previous appearances in Pittsburgh since discovering his music, I was really looking forward to this one. I stood outside for a minute and collected myself amongst a few other disappointed fans. Then we saw a girl exit out of a side door and I figured it would be my way in. The band Matt Pond PA were currently playing and I thought this would be a good time to revisit Red & Irene’s.

Just a block away, Red & Irene’s is a little cozy dive offering cheap beers and is a welcome diversion during set breaks when you’re attending shows by yourself. What made my brief stay interesting this night was the fact that I became a conduit for a little back and forth between Irene and her daughter, both working the bar that night. “I carried all the cases from the truck while she just stood around.” “I spent the whole night cleaning up while she was watching Jeopardy reruns.” I’d just nod and utter the occasional “yea.” Now, this may have annoyed some people, but I figured it was better than staring at the tube hanging from the corner ceiling.

So I got to the side door at the Brew House just as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were playing “Me And Mia,” probably my favorite song on the new album. The sound was so clear at that spot that I thought I’d just wait for someone to exit the door and then jump right in. But after hearing the intensity with which they were playing I couldn’t wait any longer so I walked up to the front and just waltzed right in, past Manny, like I’d been there all night. The place was pretty full and I was resigned to standing in the back sneaking peaks at Ted in between the taller heads in front of me. Usually I’ll try to move up but since this spot was good enough for Ed Masley it was good enough for me. So I grabbed a cold Iron out of my backpack as Ted lead a blistering guitar attack and seemed to be in great spirits for this show.

After a song or two and a trip to the restroom I came up with a novel idea for getting closer to the stage. How about going back to the side door and this time fucking knocking on it. Viola! I was instantly stage-side. Seeing Ted and the boys up close made for a more intense experience. The guys who opened the door were rewarded with their own Irons and I was able to snap some decent picts. Notable was the back-to-back playing of “Counting Down The Hours” and “Little Dawn” both great tracks from the new album. The latter of which has this pounding Guns N' Roses style drum and guitar attack early in the song. Ending with an encore that included a sing along of “The Ballad of The Sin Eater,” this show could easily sit near my top for the year and one not to be forgotten.

Except it’s hard to remember anything when you’re carrying around your own cache of beers, just hitting one after the other. So I owe a shout out to Hugh for helping me piece it back together. Afterwards a stop at the Inn-Termission Lounge to meet up with Aab and the boys just made things uglier. When you catch yourself blabbering about something and realize no one is paying attention it’s time to go home. Except this included a stop, and wifey’s going to be pissed here, at Chez Kimberly, which is just as it sounds. But just one beer and I wobbled my way home through downtown and the Strip, across the 16th Street Bridge and somehow making it up the hill and safely home.