As a long time enthusiast, I drove all the way to Pontiac to proudly support my fellow Washingtonian Ted Leo. He and his band, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, are known for putting on great shows and I felt like I needed to confirm this. His shows in D.C. are always filled with exuberant dancing fans, but every homecoming show of relatively large name bands are that way. This show unfortunately was far lower key. Of course I still felt it was a great show (nostalgic high school memories of listening to “Counting Down the Hours” and “Me and Mia” recurred), yet I wasn’t as satisfied as I feel I could have been. His performance was not unlike any other and it lacked the magic that an old time favorite band should have. The venue [Verner’s room at the Crofoot] seemed too large for the scene, the fans weren’t bouncy enough and I didn’t hear any off-key voices singing along. I wanted to be squished up against my fellow fans singing “Timorous Me” along with our pal Ted, but that didn’t happen. The lack of energy present was possibly because it was an older crowd or maybe because Ted Leo is not as known here in the Midwest as in Washington, D.C., but nevertheless I was underwhelmed. Though his most recent show was disappointing, I find that regardless of the performance of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, they will always remain an all-time favorite in my book.