Pitchfork

With all due respect to the (almost) late, great Sleater-Kinney, we must report that Carrie, Corin, and Janet have been bested by Ted Leo. The mighty ladies may have been no match for a power failure, but Mr. Leo sure is.

Wednesday night at Baltimore's Ottobar, the power went out 3/4 of the way through Leo's set, according to several Pitchfork reader reports.

Reader Ira Gamerman wrote in to say that as soon as the lights went out, Leo led the crowd in singing "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. "Then he grabbed an acoustic guitar [and] played 2 songs by flashlight."

Another reader, Jeffrey Jutton, says one of those songs was a Lungfish cover, and that after it was over, Leo "promptly fell off the stage."

"I've never seen anything like it at a show before. He literally fell off the stage, there was a huge crash, the crowd gasped because there were no lights on or anything, and then you heard the acoustic guitar strumming again. Incredible...

"At that point, everyone was asked to leave the club, so Ted took to the streets and gave an impromptu concert out in front of the Ottobar for his fans."

Holy moly!

Ted Leo is no stranger to hurting himself during a performance; on Saturday at the Pitchfork Music Festival, he smacked himself in the forehead with a microphone so hard that he bled. (See John Lombardo's photo at the top of this story.)

He's also no stranger to playing through power outages. In 2003, during the infamous New York City blackout, he entertained concertgoers at NYC's South Street Seaport with a full set. His performance of "Stove by a Whale" from that day ended up on the Ted Leo/Pharmacists DVD Dirty Old Town.

Leo will return to the South Street Seaport on August 25, as part of a string of shows scheduled throughout the next two months.

Dates:

08-06 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
08-12 Bridgeport, CT - Baldwin Plaza (Bridgeport Above Ground Festival)
08-13 Providence, RI - Century Lounge
08-25 New York, NY - South Street Seaport *
09-08 Chicago, IL - The Hideout (Touch and Go 25th Anniversary Block Party)
09-12 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Café
09-13 New Orleans, LA - Parish
09-15 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
09-16 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington

* with DC Snipers