Advent Calendar: December 13th

From the Vault: Titus Andronicus Live Show Review, Collegian, 9/30/10

[Editor's note: In honor of giving the short end of the stick to one of my favorite bands. Was The Will to Live worthy of the Top Ten? Maybe! I'll let you know by the end of 2023 whether I've reconsidered.]

I love Titus Andronicus. I've been listening to them since they were but a blip on the vast indie radar. Their most recent album, The Monitor, is quickly rising on my list of Greatest Albums of All Time. With this band, I feel a connection that goes deeper than your typical indie punk band I have moved passed [sic] the obsessive phase. At this point, I feel like I am one with Titus Andronicus.

[Editor's note: I've since moved passed past making such statements like "blip on the vast indie radar." Like, who the fuck am I to judge how popular a band is? And why is it so necessary to earn some bona fides by saying that I liked something before it was cool? I hate it, 2010 Joe, I really do.]

Obviously, this is going to be a positive review of Titus's concert last week. It was most likely the best concert I have ever attended.

Let it be known, I am not a "concert guy." I do not revel in the honor of getting pushed around by a sweaty mass while listening to a band that plays subpar versions of its songs. Therefore, I was a tad skeptical when I scalped my way into Philly's First Unitarian Church.

[Editor's note: I said last Saturday that my miserly stance toward live music was not new, and here is some proof. I have never told a lie on Puke on Your Birthday.]

This was not a disappointment, nor a mistake, nor something I regret. Titus Andronicus was freaking incredible, and I only say that because I cannot use swear words in this collegiate article.

The band knew what they were in for, there is no doubt about that. Foreseeing a crazy crowd (we were), Patrick Sickles [sic], the front man of our fateful crew, pleaded with the crowd, "Hey, let's all respect each other tonight; no one wants to get pushed around." It was a sign from the heavens to this coward. This was to be a concert we'd all enjoy and, thankfully, didn't need to fear for our lives.

[Editor's note: a word about that sic. It was only sometime this year, like in 2022, that I realized that the frontman for one my favorite bands was named Patrick Stickles, and not Patrick Sickles. I had mentioned his name like three dozen times on this blog, and every single time I had written "Sickles." It felt like I was going insane, almost like a Mandela Effect type thing. Clearly I have been insane for a long time. Sorry, Patrick.]

After the timid plea for restraint, the band exploded with every song in their repertoire (more of less). Every song was met with a loud cheer from the audience, and rightly so—this band is a singalong band, regardless of how rough they may seem.

"A Perfect Union" meant that this party was started on the right foot. "The Battle of Hampton Road" was every bit as intense as the eleven minutes of the song required it to be. "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ" was an oldie for which everyone gathered 'round to yell expletives at the top of their lungs. During "Theme from 'Cheers'," everyone cracked open the nearest cold beverage and hugged their best friend. During "To Old Friends and New," we all shed a tear. "Four Score and Seven" was a perfect coda to a perfect night.

[Editor's note: I won't pretend I know how to review a concert any better now than I did then, but something tells me that just listing songs and describing what we did during them isn't the best way to do it. Or maybe it is! I have no clue if anyone even read this shit in the school newspaper.]

My reviews in this heralded Entertainment section often dissolve into personal narratives that hold no weight in a journalistic sense. However, for a review about such a band as Titus Andronicus, personal narrative is about the best I can do.

Titus writes and performs songs about the friendships we form and the good times we share. To write a 500-word thesis on anything but the good times we share with Titus Andronicus would be against everything this band stands for in the first place.

To say Titus Andronicus was perfect on stage would be an understatement. To say that I grew closer with my friends through our shared experience with Titus, well... that would be just about right.

[Editor's note: Okay, that could have been worse.]