When
played at the Recher Theatre Aug. 11, it felt like a throwback to about five years ago, when the Towson venue regularly booked national indie and alternative acts of the kind young Baltimoreans would otherwise have to drive down to Washington to see. Since then, other venues have filled that much-needed role, while the Recher's perfectly good concert space has been largely wasted on less entertaining fare, including jam bands and a seemingly endless series of tribute acts. Of course, the ex-Chisel frontman Leo has come a long way since 2002 himself, from when his tour stop in Baltimore was opening for the (International) Noise Conspiracy in front of a small, inattentive crowd at the Ottobar, to headlining larger clubs and theaters in support of his fifth solo album, this year's
. The Pharmacists have become a tight and sturdy unit since then, pared down to a power trio of Leo, drummer Chris Wilson, and bassist Dave Lerner. But this past weekend may have been a key point of transition, with Lerner playing his last show with the Pharmacists the next day in New York, and the band featuring, for the first time in years, a second guitarist to trade rhythm and lead parts with Leo. Although Leo long ago gave over his music to jangly pop instincts and omnivorously eclectic influences, live he still plays like a punk rocker, cranking up the tempos of his fast songs even faster. Opening with a roar of feedback and, oddly enough, the outro riff from 2001's "My Vien Ilin," the Pharmacists segued into the
Living
single "Sons of Cain" and plowed through half a dozen crowd-pleasers with barely a breath in between. Leo dedicated "Little Dawn" to those of us who were at "the blackout show," the memorable night last August when the Ottobar's power went out in the middle of the Pharmacists' set and Leo led the audience outside for an acoustic performance on Howard Street. Then, as he has so often lately, he used the song as a springboard for a bizarre cover of Daft Punk's "One More Time." After the first half of the show's run-through rousing oldies such as "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" and "Dial Up," Leo and his band proceeded to play the bulk of
Living
, which sounded pretty damn good even when the song choices left something to be desired--"La Costa Brava" would've been much more appreciated than, say, "Colleen" or "The Unwanted Things." While the second guitarist mostly sounded there to hold down the riffs while Leo noodled leads or focused on his vocals (most of the songs, after all, were only written with one guitar part), the band's unnamed new addition did get to take one particularly good solo on "Who Do You Love?" And with their usual businesslike efficiency, the Pharmacists ran through a score of songs in under 80 minutes, sending the all-ages crowd on its way home before 11
.
