Ted Leo And The Pharmacists Prescribe Energy Pills

The Mod Club was already pretty full when I arrived at 9:30 p.m. for the start of Love Of Diagrams' half-hour set.

I had listened to the Australian trio's new Mosaic album once and liked it, but really wasn't familiar with their '80s-influenced, post-punk music. Guitarist Luke Horton and bassist Antonia Selbach alternated vocals, while Monika Fikerle kept a steady beat behind the two relatively static frontpeople. All three were solid players, but the bass too often overshadowed the herky-jerky guitar, which detracted a bit from the overall sound. However, the performance warranted a future revisit of the Steve Albini-recorded Mosaic and a listen to the self-titled, four-song EP that's also out now through Matador.

Ted Leo chatted amiably with audience members as he set up his effects pedals at the front of the stage before his set, and I was heartened to witness a packed venue waiting to see him. I missed his last show here, but had seen two previous performances at the Horseshoe Tavern, and it was good to see that he can now fill a larger hall. He certainly deserves to.

The set opened with the same song that launches Leo and the Pharmacists' recently released Living With The Living, "The Sons Of Cain." High-energy playing and venomous vocals erupted from the stage immediately and didn't let up until the show ended 95 minutes later. While drummer Chris Wilson is a dead ringer for syrupy singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins and bassist Dave Lerner looks like he time-travelled from some shaggy-haired early '70s prog-metal band, they were fully in tune with the frontman's punk-based yet razor-sharp guitar riffs.

The show featured quite a few songs from Living With The Living and, since it's one of my favourite albums of the year, I was happy with that. But a lot of time was also dedicated to older material, especially tracks from 2004's Shake The Sheets. These included "Me And Mia," the Thin Lizzy-influenced "Counting Down The Hours" and "Little Dawn."

Leo smacked his head hard on the mic during Hearts Of Oak standout "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?" then stepped back and punched it in retaliation. The most energetic vegan known to man was definitely in fighting shape as he ripped through new tracks "Colleen," "Annunciation Day/Born On Christmas Day" and "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb," which is the closest he's ever come to a modern punk sound.

While Leo naturally emits as much expectorant as any singer I've ever seen, which can often make discerning his lyrics difficult, those who have his albums and read the lyric sheets know that he's a gifted wordsmith with a wide vocabulary and knowledge that goes far beyond your average musician. He's a dedicated leftist who infuses many of his songs with socio-political messages and, had Billy Bragg ever become an all-out rocker, he'd be the British equivalent of Leo.

But the New Jersey native tempers his big statements with more intimate asides, displaying both wit and charm. When audience members started insulting his home state (the Toronto Raptors are, after all, involved in a heated NBA playoff battle with the New Jersey Nets at the moment), Leo jokingly threw Hamilton back in their faces to shut them up.

He followed the Steeltown putdown with "Bottle Of Buckie," which wasn't quite the same without the tin whistle that colours the studio version, but was still exemplary. The world music portion of the evening then continued with "The Unwanted Things." The rhythm section laid down an impressive bottom end as Leo seemed to be taken over by the spirit of Junior Murvin during the reggae song, which was a great change of pace and a definite highlight.

After a 30-second off-stage break, Leo didn't waste any time in getting to the encore. He returned alone and dedicated a cover of The Pogues' "Dirty Old Town" to Hamilton. He started "Timorous Me" by himself and was then joined by the band halfway through. They stuck around for the bouncy, pop-oriented "Walking To Do," during which Leo acknowledged Toronto's Fresh vegetarian restaurants.

The show came to a sweaty conclusion as Leo broke a guitar string but kept on thrashing through a cover of Chumbawamba's "Rappaport's Testament: I Never Gave Up." Much of the crowd sang along with the anthemic chorus of "I never gave up, I crawled in the mud, but I never gave up." If it wasn't totally obvious at the start of the performance that Leo had the audience in his pocket, it certainly was by the time he left.