C'mon, Ted -- iron your shirts.

best Ted Leo show of all time

setlist?

my friend basically said she wanted to go but was scared of buswick, I took care of calling her a pussy though.

scared of bushwick! i walked home after the show, and i live over a mile and 1/2 away, bushwick is not that bad.

Honestly, I was dying to go to this show but the ticket situation is always so dicey with the Todd P shows. Last time No Age played, day of show they announce they will start selling tickets at 6pm at Goodbye Blue and White, which is a solid 10-15 minute walk past the venue. When I got there, first in line, they were stamping hands and not selling tickets at all. I was there to buy a ticket for my friend who couldn't make it until later and myself. They refused to stamp my other hand or write me a ticket even though the girls selling the tickets admitted it was patently unfair. One girl told me she had to do the same thing for a show over the weekend so now I had to.

The show didn't start for hours afterwards. Which means if you don't want to go alone you and the other person need to have hours on a weekday night to spend on a concert. No matter what type of job you have, this is pretty demanding to see a show. I was really bummed I couldn't see No Age or Titus that night, which ironically Ted Leo showed up at. No one wants to show up to any neighborhood on a wintery weekday night and deal with ticket hassles.

Thus, the only people who are able to go to the Market Hotel when a marquee act like Ted Leo (whom everyone assumes will sell out a tiny venue) is playing are people within walking distance because most people don't want to deal with Todd P's flimsy ticket policies. Make it easier to attend the shows and I think more people will come. I'm thoroughly sad I missed this!

Well put Lecherous Frenchman. Definitely not as simple as 'pussies' scared of bushwick. this was a really roundabout way to have a show, which didn't work for the majority of people

agreed with 9:34. the bigger todd p shows always seem to be a bit sketchy. i would've loved to see this show, but i didn't know what the ticket situation would be like, and i didn't wanna make the the trek out to bushwick if i wasn't sure i'd get in. plus it was a cold monday night, which made it a little bit more annoying.

9:55 it was not cold out last night, it was as cold as maybe 50 degrees, and that was when i left the show, it was like 65 when i got my hand stamped.

To anyone calling anyone else a pussy for not wanting to go to Bushwick:

You've never been jumped have you?

best boner pushed into a hole in a brick wall of all time.

It's finals week for most colleges?

wa wa wa Leacherous Frenchman, your life is soooo hard.

while that ticket selling kid at No Age maybe fucked up and didn't sell you extra tickets for your friends, Todd's policy is actually that you CAN buy tickets and put them on a will call list, as several people did last night.

The No Age show never sold out, because they had played a free show the night before, so actually it was YOU who were a huge pussy and didn't want to take a tiny chance. If you'd just told your friends to come they would have had no trouble getting in.

Your point is pretty flimsy, and your sense of entitlement is obnoxious.

the whiny indie rockers on this thread kind of prove the reviewer's point.

of every Brooklyn underground show I've ever attended, maybe 2 have ever sold out and stopped letting people in.

you guys are just afraid to go out into your city, and even more afraid to venture where your credit card's not accepted.

the box office was only like 3 blocks away from where the show was, why would that scare you away?

it's simple, you go there, get stamped, maybe buy a coffee from a nice independent business, then walk to the show. no hassles.

hardly a big deal, dudes.

it was a monday night and gross out...who would really want to go?

Totally off topic, but did anyone see Ted when he was at the Ian MacKaye speaking gig in Metuchen, NJ a few weeks back?

"it was a monday night and gross out...who would really want to go?"

It was actually really warm that night

i saw that ian thing. didn't see ted there though. didn't see ted here either. i just spaced it. sounds like it was fuckin awesome.

going to shows isn't hard to do though, for the record.

also, bushwick isn't that scary, but if i'm carrying my guitar or something else valuable, you can bet there's a knife in my pocket.

Goodbye BLue Monday is 3 blocks away. A 5 minute walk if you walk slow, and you can't get lost, you just keep walking straight under the train.

Two things: I wish I'd gone to this show, but I like my sleep during the week.

Second, anyone got some shred of a set list? I'm curious to see which Tej Leo songs he played.

I'm glad I missed "Dancing in the Dark", god I hate that song...

I'm surprised that I didn't hear about this and probably would have gone if I did.

I wanted to take this opportunity to, I guess, make a statement about why I (and I think a lot of other people) don't enjoy going to Todd P shows. First my disclaimer: I grew up around here but have been living in Oakland, CA for a while and just moved back. I'm not a musician but I like music (obviously) and I like a lot of the bands that Todd P gets to play.

The problem, I think, is the insider feeling of the whole fucking thing. Its like half the people there are not paying, getting free beer, running in and out, maybe working there, maybe not. But I go and I feel like a fucking asshole, like I'm not wanted there. People are just not that friendly. Its an insular and pretentious crowd, always. I feel much more comfortable going to a regular venue, and it has nothing to do with location or credit cards or whatever the fuck. It has to do with the lack of pretentiousness. In my opinion, the people going to see Ted Leo at a place like the Bowery or something are almost 100% there to see the band playing. Maybe 50% of the people going to see Ted Leo playing at Market Hotel are there to see him play and the other 50% are trying to get an in on the scene.

I don't mean to rant, but I wanted to express how I've felt in the time I've been here.

nyc is way more than 50% scene creamers. many aren't even aware that there are bands playing.

10:03

I do not think the problem are "the people at these shows nor the ones running them". A co-worker of mine feels like you do. she doesn't like the intimate atmosphere of these shows, she doesn't feel like she fits in a loft setting. she feels like she is invading some private party and that everybody is staring at her. there's nothing in the world that could change that. it's a personal perception, or a personal problem if you wanna call it that. it is also the reason why venues like bowery/irving are well frequented. every bee has its nest so to say. it's all about preferences.

the way that you describe these toddP shows makes them sound like a big exclusive and elite IN-CROWD affair which they are certainly not. these are actually the most open minded, open armed and anybody is welcome events that I can think of. and I for one sure as shit do not fit in with the early 20s college/whatever crowd as I'm hitting 40 relatively soon.

not trying to pick a fight here btw.

I agree with UnartIg, you said it well. You can shoot todd an e-mail or message him on myspace and he will respond, he is one of the least pretentious or aloof people around. Same with the people who work with him. And I also think the majority of the people there are there for the music.

I've been to a bunch of toddp shows and I've generally had more fun at them then your average venue- yeah there are pretentious assholes who are not into the music, but then there are lots of people there just to have fun too.

I so wanted to go to this but I didn't/couldn't for exactly the reasons a bunch of people listed above- finals week for school, far away though market hotel is a pretty great spot and bushwick isn't that scary though maybe I'm just naive, but mostly I thought it'd be sold out if I didn't get there at 6 and then I'd have to wait around in Bushwick for hours before the show even started and I just didn't have the time for it on a monday night with exams and shit.

Yeah, if I lived nearby (hell it takes me nearly two hours to get to brooklyn) and could've gotten tickets and then gone home and come back for the show I totally would've been into it, but it was a monday night man..... whatchagonna do?

The whole "house show" vibe feels very 1980s, a Dischord-era throwback.

Many good points have been made above and I agree that, again using Dischord as my model, these shows attract a very insular crowd (in Dischord's case, they were barely in highschool).

The downside to Todd P is that many of the shows suffer from very young folks working the door, serving the drinks and doing sound. If you aren't 20 and joking w/ everyone else on the crew, you don't feel particularly welcome, especially if the venue is a converted living space (also not the most welcoming forum for those on the outside). Again, we are encountering one of the downsides of "freeform" counterculture, which isn't always so free or open.

I commend Todd P for what he does, but the manner in which the whole scene is framed, an overly absolute "corporate bars in Manhattan" versus "community-based house shows in Brooklyn" attitude feels like contrived posturing. I also can't stand the language he uses in his emails, how he is "stoked" about connecting w/ other "Brooklynistas" etc. Embarrassing, considering Brooklyn is now the centerpiece of the NY Times style section and the Sex in the City crowd. Brooklyn is as corporate as the East Village, probably more so, considering there's plenty of space for box stores.

Well said.

All you people are total 'mos. Same goes for all the pussy shit being played on Monday night.

what does 'mos mean?

great show!

& Ted did a big thanks to Todd P for making shows like that possible. So... you people who offer so much constructive criticism about how the shows he promotes should be run — what have you ever done that's so great? Todd P's obviously not doing it for the big bucks.

the people lobbing vague accusations of "pretentiousness" and "exclusive house party vibe" about Todd P shows, and Brooklyn loft shows in general, are projecting their insecurities.

I hear your concerns and your nervousness, but honestly guys, that is all in your head. No one is judging you, nor probably even noticing your presence at all, at Todd P shows.

People are there to see the music, contrary to what you perceive. There are, factually, far more guestlist free riders and drink ticket drinkers at places like Santos Party Space and Bowery Ballroom.

There's very little Todd or any diy promoter could do to dispel these people's fears. The fact is, what they're afraid of that they're too old or that they aren't 'cool' enough, and that everyone is noticing and staring... but the real truth is no one is judging you at all. "Real" clubs are infinitely snobbier!

I knew that someone was going to offer the "what the fuck do you do that's so great for the scene?" I realize Todd P does good things. I've been to a lot of his shows. To be honest, I've invested a lot of time, money and energy in various music scenes over more years than I care to admit here.

Regardless, there are good and bad things associated w/ all kinds of shows and venues. The reason the Ted Leo show as poorly attended are listed above.

1:34

W.O.R.D.!

Has nothing to do w/ fear or insecurity. Has to do w/ the overall ambience of the shows and claims made in the original post, about why this particular show was poorly attended. I live in Bushwick and, regardless of the claims of knife fights and muggings posted above, I still would rather not see a show in some dude's living room where the sound isn't great and there is always the fear of the show getting shut down.

W.O.R.D.?

the reason this Ted Leo show was poorly attended is because there is a substantial number of people who view their indie rock as a commodity.

To them, indy music is something you can consume in a predictable, institutional setting, without interacting with the people involved or around you, in a tightly regimented, credit card accepting environment, and then you go home.

If Todd P and the diy community are failing those kind of music fans, then hooray for diy shows. There are more than enough venues catering to the commercial indie rock crowd, and that attitude has many, many drawbacks of its own.

Why do you think Ted wanted to play at Market Hotel? He knows what sort of people sell out his big shows. Clearly he wanted to reconnect with his roots. It's unfortunate that his current fanbase is too timid and insecure to venture into less by-the-book environs to see him. But claiming that the organizers are somehow to blame is ridiculous. The "blame" falls squarely on the small-mindedness of the mainstream indie rock crowd. There was nothing "difficult" about attending this show.

^^
Fair enough, but you might be missing out then - isn't it worth taking a chance that exactly the kind of space you'd rather not attend might be the crazy intimate life-changing musical experience that you're almost CERTAINLY not going to get at the MHOW?

wow I cant really believe some of these comments.

remember there's no velvet ropes at todd p shows and everyone is welcome. I probably made more friends with strangers at todd p show than any other. you want aloof crowd go to a place like the Bowere. and the young people that work the doors and sell the beers are genuine friendly people not some jerk off who give you a death stare if you forget to tip. im in my 30s btw and never felt like i was too old, so throw away your inhibitions and go to a show. see ya in the pit.

todd p regular.

firstly, Market Hotel is not anybody's living room, and the sound there is pretty good.

and here's a list of some venues that have been "shut down" for at least one night (which is all that Market Hotel has ever been shut down) over the last few years:

Northsix (three times)
Webster Hall
Studio B
Glasslands
Loisaida
The Hook
Union Pool
Scenic
Midway
Rothko

well, could it be that this show was poorly attended because the relativly wide range of folks that usually crowds up places like Market Hotel just doesn't care for Mr. Leo's musical offerings?! at least that goes for me. I live less than 5 minutes away from market hotel and could not have cared less to see this overly plain mainstream rock artist.

indie rock is a term used to market music, not as a sweeping generalization of all the music you may/may not like. the term should never be used by any self-respecting person in these kinds of forums.

i agree, ted leo is yawnsville.

Ted is a genius - Go toss off to Passion Pit. One thing that I don't understand about TL is the dude is from Jersey, but he NEVER plays here aside from his various Maxwell's stints. I think the last time he played in NJ was at the Brighton Bar - What about the Asbury Lanes or Wonder Bar?

Hey should play more Jersey shows. Then again Jersey really needs more venues. I mean I live in north Jersey and it is really just as easy for me to go to the city as it is to get to Maxwell's. I want a closer venue. Well there was Blend but they had like 3 decent shows before it shut down.