I got lucky and without any work on my part, I had a ticket in hand for the Ted Leo show within three hours of the opening band hitting the stage. Getting something without work, on its own, is the best. Getting Ted Leo tickets is something else entirely.

Reliable sources had it that TL's vocal chords were in the weeds, and there was a possibility of karaoke. This never came to be, and my lyrics sheet for "Bridges, Squares" ended up under a hundred pairs of feet on the way out, the bittersweet closing shot in the otherwise awesome but esoteric movie called My Friday Night. I could blame it my blood alcohol content, but I didn't look at my watch once, I shook my junk, and I sang my ass off. From beginning to end, one of the best shows I've seen in a long time; at the very least, the show that's made me the happiest in years.

I bitch about crowds at shows. Years ago, walking out of I Am Trying To Break Your Heart I promised myself I'd see more shows. Apathy, school, and poverty have put a stake in the heart of that promise, and the shows I go to usually end with me muttering to myself about "those goddamn fucking scenester douchebag cocksuckers." Last night was a whole other story. Maybe it was where I was standing, but people seemed to be there to see Ted, and not each other. Why is this novel? For the full hour plus, people moved, people sang, people pumped fists (an underrated move). Someone yelled out for Thin Lizzy, and that I like. I could go through the set list, but honestly, I forget and I don't care. You know and like Ted or you don't; you know what you're getting. And sometimes you get more, plus a free drink. Hats off to Ted, making show-going bearable again. We'll see if I go back to my bitching after the Magnolia Electric Company show later this week (Vegas odds have the line 2-1 on "damn straight").