There’s always something special about last shows. Whether the final episode of a beloved television series, or the farewell tour of a band, or even just the closing show of a tour, the artists involved always seem to throw a little something extra into the mix. So what does that mean for someone like Ted Leo, who closed out his tour Saturday night at the 9:30 Club, for whom giving roughly 210% at any given show is pretty much the routine?

The evening kicked off with solid sets from both openers, starting with RisPaulRic (former Q and Not U-er Chris Richards), and followed by Kristeen Young, who gained notoriety earlier this year for being just one of the people to royally piss off Morrissey in 2007. I heard a bit of grousing from the Leo faithful during her set, but found the heightened dramatics of her take on the PJ Harvey school of rock to be pretty compelling. And Ted professed his love for her music, as well as his disappointment at not being able to watch her play every day now that the tour was over, and his endorsement is good enough for me. When Leo and the three Pharmacists took the stage, the crowd was primed and ready. Within the first few minutes of the set, the band had fists pumping in the air all over the room, and the packed area in front of the stage was jostling and jumping and forming into momentary mini-mosh pits.

Photos by Ian Buckwalter