Last night, Glen Rock, New Jersey-born Titus Andronicus, supported by Brooklyn indie outfit Lost Boy?, kicked off their coast-to-coast Manifest Destiny tour at the Tralf.
I was finishing up my own tour of every rest stop between Buffalo and Kalamazoo, Michigan, which explains why I was late for the opener.
Twelve screaming hours of highwaybabybladder brought me home just in time to dump bags and suitcases in a mad heap and run downtown for the show. I parked the car and hurried over to Main Street just in time to hear "Future Shock" by local partymonsters Mallwalkers humming through the walls.
A sports whistle solo was screaming down the hall while a bouncer eyed my license, and shit, shit, shit, I could still catch the last song!
But, just my luck, it was over before the glue on my wristband was dry.
Damn you, adequate security!
So I sat down with a $3 tank of Genny Light to acquaint myself with the next act, Lost Boy? ("It's a question"). Take an upbeat Sebadoh, add the high-pitched vocals of Math the Band and Benadryl-woozy guitars, and you've got Lost Boy?. They had their awkward moments ("Buffalo's been so good to us. You can shit on the walls as long as you tip." No response. I thought it was funny). But when they rocked, they rocked. The highlight was a song called "Bank," which starts off sounding like Tiny Tim, then kicks it up a third of the way through. Check it out:
'Course, most folks were there to see Titus Andronicus, who showed up as a four-piece - guitarist Liam Betson being the odd man out. Frontman Patrick Stickles played the part of super-literate rock star to a tee. He took his place at the helm in sunglasses and a hoodie, sounding a little soused and looking like he might keel over at any moment.
Happily, any worries about a half-assed, drunken set were allayed when Stickles ditched the glasses and Titus Andronicus started playing. The crowd was a little thinner than I'd expected, but we were ready for a show. Kids up front hopped when the music told them to hop and swayed when things got slow. Stickles guided us along like a piss-and-vinegar Virgil, explicating lyrics and making sure everyone was comfortable "in their own personal space."
As I said, the crowd did dance, but we seemed a little polite for a rock show. Maybe it was just a Monday night in Buffalo. Things got so quiet at one point that a dude clutching a plastic cup on his way to the back bar yelled, "Toronto's thing is nobody dances. In Buffalo, nobody talks!" Some smartass responded: "so shut up and dance!"
But it was all right. Guitar licks - from both Stickles and lead guitarist Adam Reich - were tight, and the rhythm section held their own. Reich and drummer Eric Harm switched places for a number, with Harm playing guitar and singing lead and Reich on skins - and it was a pretty impressive showing of musicianship all around. The crowd chanted "you will always be a loser" during "No Future Part Three" and all the "doo-doo-doo"s and "your life is over"s during "Titus Andronicus," and all was rock and roll.
TA played some old songs, some from their latest, Local Business, and some from their upcoming project, which Stickles, ever sarcastic, called "CD Four." I didn't catch the name of the tune (and this was my first TA show, so forgive me), but their only major screw ups came during an "audible" in the set list which, if Stickles is to be believed, they'd only practiced a few times. Even then, it was rocking enough that any flubbed notes didn't matter.
One minor bitch: no encore. Encores are a little like a birthday card from grandma - you should be grateful you got anything, but you can't help but be disappointed when there's no money in the envelope. No one owes you an extra song, but it sure sucks when you don't get one. "They're holding us to an 11 o'clock curfew," said Stickles. Which may or may not have been true. Regardless, it was Monday in Buffalo. Some people had to work in the morning, y'know.
~Photo by Andrew Odien
