Pitchfork: Ted Leo Sets Winter Tour, Planning Next LP; Live DVD Due Next Month

Ted Leo Sets Winter Tour, Planning Next LP; Live DVD Due Next Month
Pharmacists keep wary eye on Rush Limbaugh through plexiglass

[Updated Friday, January 23nd, 2004 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are heading back out on the club circuit for a handful of January dates on the West Coast. According to head Pharmacist Ted Leo, he will then spend the balance of February writing the rest of his next album. In March, Leo and the Pharmacists posse will then head back out on the road, hitting a smattering of dates surrounding the monolithic South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX, where they will play new songs for hopefully appreciative crowds. Leo hopes to head back into the studio in May to record the aforementioned new album, which he's currently hoping to have out in fall. Lucky, lucky you (and me). The dates:

01-23 Seattle, WA - Graceland *
01-24 Victoria, British Columbia - Logans *
01-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club *
01-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill (w/ The Yellow Press) *
01-29 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
01-30 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (w/ DJ Steve Aoki) *
01-31 Los Gatos, CA - Los Gatos Outhouse *
03-12 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's #
03-13 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar #
03-14 Carrboro, NC - Go Rehearsal 4 #
03-15 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club #
03-22 St. Louis, MO - Rocketbar (w/ Radio 4)
03-23 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium (w/ Radio 4)
03-24 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick (w/ Radio 4, Saturday Looks Good To Me)
03-25 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern +
03-26 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa +
03-27 Winooski, VT - Higher Ground +
03-28 Boston, MA - Matrix (w/ Drew O'Doherty) +
03-29 Providence, RI - The Call +

* with The Fiery Furnaces
# with French Toast and We Ragazzi
+ with Electralane

But who are we kidding-- you won't be able to wait until freakin' fall to get your Leo on, especially if you don't happen to be in the vicinity of the upcoming live shows. Well, good news-- you won't have to let your locationally-challenged status get the best of you as long as you have a DVD player. Justin Mitchell (director of Songs for Cassavetes) has just edited a live concert from last July for a DVD release next month.

The film is titled Dirty Old Town, and is due to be released February 24th on DVD by Plexifilm, who also count themselves responsible for Wilco's I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, and the recent They Might Be Giants documentary, Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)-- not to be confused with the recent John Holmes biopic (and come to think of it, there was only one John in that one).

The bulk of Dirty Old Town was filmed in Coney Island at last year's Siren Music Festival, but the DVD also features a handful of bonus materials, including a performance of "Stove by a Whale" at New York's South Street Seaport during the 2003 blackout, a Coney Island slide show (!), and outtake footage from a solo performance. Finally, it's worth noting that this is heralded to be the first in a series of concert films released by Plexifilm, although no other artists or release dates have been announced. Here are the goods:

Live at 3rd Annual Siren Music Festival:
01 Dirty Old Town
02 2nd Ave., 11am
03 Timorous Me
04 Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?
05 Biomusicology
06 The Ballad of the Sin Eater
07 The High Party
08 The Crane Takes Flight
09 Parallel or Together?

Live Solo at Piano's:
01 Dirty Old Town, Part 2
02 The High Party
03 The Sword in the Stone