Photos: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at Chronic Town in State College (playing Morgan’s Pier tonight)

All photos by Chris Sikich | countfeed.tumblr.com

By chance I happened to be in State College for a week, bringing me to the underground hookah-drenched lair of Chronic Town last Thursday for a night of punk rock in the form of Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Playing their first show as a full band in over a year according to the front man himself, they gave a heavy dosage of rock to a semi-subdued, yet jubilant crowd. Leo circled his corner of the stage like a boxer punching forth with his Gibson and punkish utterances. James Canty’s guitar, Chris Wilson’s drums, and Marty Key’s bass provided background sonic thunder. Leo pondering the club’s name and whether anyone actually referred to it as Chronic Town (not a whisper from the audience gave him an answer) and the sound men thinking the show was over when Leo was calling for an encore were odd moments indeed, but they could not damper the delight Leo and his fellow Rx practitioners showed at being on the stage together again. Check out photos from the show in the gallery below; the band plays a free show tonight at Morgan’s Pier.