Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and Screaming Females should be a scream tonight at the South Street Seaport (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
South Street Seaport, Pier 17
Saturday, July 9, free, 6:30
www.seaportmusicfestival.com
www.tedleo.com
For the past ten years, indie punk icon Ted Leo has been playing an annual free show in New York City, from Siren and RiverRocks to Castle Clinton, the McCarren Park pool, and the South Street Seaport. Tonight, Leo and his band, the Pharmacists, are back at Pier 17, headlining the official kick-off show for next Saturday’s 4Knots Music Festival, which features the Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Davila 666, Oberhofer, Mr. Dream, and Eleanor Friedberger. Tonight at the Seaport, Leo will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of The Tyranny of Distance by playing the record in its entirety. “The whole album’s like an Irish wake to me,” he writes on his website about looking back at the making of the disc, “and what happened afterward surprised me more than anybody!” He also explains, “It’s become a bit of an urban legend that we bring ten plagues down upon the city every time we play an outdoor summer show, but it’s really just storms (and a blackout). No locust or Angel of Death. And it’s actually not just limited to New York City. AND it’s actually not true.” In addition to such Tyranny tracks as “Biomusicology,” “Dial Up,” “The Great Communicator,” and “You Could Die (Or This Might End),” Leo will be playing other songs from throughout his solid career. And be sure not to miss the opening band, the great New Jersey outfit Screaming Females, led by wicked guitarist and chief screamer Marissa Paternoster, who joined Leo onstage at last year’s Siren Festival in Coney Island.