After missing Bright Eyes due to uncontrollable circumstances a week before we decided to spend the $$ and see one of our favorites, Titus Andronicus. After a few poses in the alley this was the best I could come up with. Then we went to dinner.

Liz and I were cheapskates for dinner and shared a meal. We did got all out and get Pabst though.

The first “performer” was Julianna Barwick. She played the worst shit I have ever heard in my life. Literally, the worst “music” humanly possible. It was just her voice, dubbed over and over without words. Just ambient nothing horribleness. Whoever setup the show to have her open for a punk rock band is a moron.

So we wandered around and got a photo op with Mr Titus Andronicus himself, Patrick Stickles! He’s a really nice dude and a nerd! So we love him! We told him he better play loud after that Julianna crap. He said he’d try. Ha.

Titus Andronicus came on and did not disappoint. They played only songs form their latest album The Monitor. It was great.

The crowd up front was a weird one. Punk rock looking dudes with their ears plugged. Pretentious 20 year old hipsters that were annoyed with Titus fans yelling some of the words. It was easily the weirdest billing I’ve witnessed. Titus ruled it though.

The headliner was Okervil River. They were mediocre hipster rock. We left across the street for a drink and then fanned out with the Titus dudes some more. Fun night.

My third in show in little over a week. Also the third show in a row I didn’t have even a single beer. Weird. Anyways, Liz and I rolled in shortly before the opening band Free Energy. I had heard nothing about them before listening to some songs of theirs on myspace early that day. After what I heard I should have known better, but we don’t like just seeing only one band.This band was bad. Really really bad. Somehow they had a large following.Lots of them wore headbands.Or they were parents.Even some Ultimate Fighters in the house. It was seriously the weirdest crowd.Killing some time during the sucking we rolled back to the merch booth and noticed their name was wrong on their own 7 inch. That’s funny! The scary part was that the members of Titus Andronicus came out to play the Springsteen cover with Free Engery and it was also really bad. Liz and I were definitely a bit worried for Titus at that point.Titus Andronicus eventually arrived on stage. It started about as epic as one can imagine. A drunken fan recited the opening speech from The Monitor and stage dived into the crowd as the band exploded into “A More Perfect Union”. I haven’t witnessed a band get on stage and blow me away that quickly in a long time. The giant turd left in the air by Free Engery was defeated immediately. Thank god. Titus Andronicus went on to play one of the best shows I have ever seen. Tons of energy throughout, great setlist, great stage presence, it was loud, the sound was good, the crowd was very into it, everything you need for a great show. They came off more punk rock then I would have thought with lots of fist pumping anthems being yelled by the crowd. The ender “Four Score And Seven” was so intense and powerful that I actually hoped the show was done. No encore. That song burned the house down. Totally epic set.Lastly, sorry once again for the crappy cell phone photos. But if I brought my nice camera I’d feel obligated to spend my time trying to get the perfect photo instead of just enjoying the show.