The Enemy is Everywhere.
In Atlanta Georgia there is no smoking ban. Bars can choose to allow smoking or to forbid it. There was a bar that was frequently used as a live music venue. They had the novel idea of giving the power to the musicians and so whoever was playing got to decide if the audience were allowed to smoke or not. On my first visit smoking was permitted. It was a Los Campesinos gig and I had nothing better to do so tagged along with my house mates. As we walked through to the stage area there was a moaning gentleman sitting at a key board screaming something about dying like a man. Someone said something about slitting their wrists. I was thinking about how he sounded like a miserable Conor Oberst. I didn’t really want to like it but as I stood in this smoky bar it all came together.
The lead singer, Patrick Stickles, at one point started kissing the head of the lead guitarist as he played a solo. It was a special moment. Usually bands are a bit self conscious or embarrassed yet Mr. Stickles seemed terribly proud of what he was hearing. The lead guitarist looked like he was 12 or 14, maybe younger. I didn’t know anything about this band and so it seemed plausible to me that this guitarist had been raised for this moment. It seemed plausible that he had been raised in some sort of punk rock commune and had flossed his teeth with guitar strings since he was a tot. “What the fuck is this guy doing on a tour?” I thought. He was a punk rock baby faced prodigy. The band seemed to acknowledge the same thing as me.
The solo came and went and the gig continued. The bass player climbed on top of some huge amp and the amp seemed to juggle him about in time to the music. I was scared that he was going to fall and bone would split his skin. This feeling combined with the sounds hitting my face made me feel something pleasurable yet worrying. They left the stage and walked to the back of the room and stood behind their merchandise table. I made my way over and said hello. I bought their debut album for ten dollars. They said it was coming out on Rough Trade and that if it did well they would get a deal. They thanked me for buying the album and I went back to my house mates. Los Campesinos came on stage and immediately insulted me by lying about where they were from. I left the room and sat at the bar. Maybe I misunderstood them?, its irrelevant anyway as the night belonged to Titus Andronicus.
The Enemy is Everywhere. This is written on their t-shirts and its brilliant. I don’t know what it truly means but the idea is great. The Enemy is Everywhere but I am on to them. It makes paranoia beautiful and hip.
I had been in Atlanta for two weeks when I attended that gig. Over two months later my visa was coming to an end and I was preparing to go home. Upon missing Titus Andronicus at SXSW, where they played seven times, I checked their website and noticed they were back in Atlanta playing with the also superb, Here We Go Magic. My house mate and I went to the show which this time was in a smaller bar. I think it was my favourite bar. On five stools sat five human beings drinking beer and looking at a screen. They were joining the bar maid in watching City of God. I thought that was the greatest idea I had witnessed. I peeped into the stage area and noticed a sound man standing in a cupboard with his gear nailed vertically against the wall. He was doing sound from a cupboard. As I sat waiting for things to pick up the gentlemen from Titus Andronicus arrived and sat across at another table. It had been two months and I thought Mr.Stickles looked as if he had lost his mind or something. As I enquired about buying a t-shirt from someone in the band I remarked how I couldn’t believe they were still on tour. He pointed out that it had only been two months. I had a moment of clarity and realized he was right. Somewhere along my time living in this different country and meeting new people two months became two years. When they took the stage Mr.Stickles said “We are going to play the rock n roll for you tonight”. I got caught up in this phrase. They were going to do “the rock n roll”. This thing that young people can do. It wasn’t a case of they liked rock and roll but they were doing it. It was something they did to have fun, like a magic trick.
There are things that would make this review better. If I could remember the name of the bar or the book that Mr.Stickles was reading before they took the stage, or the brand of cigarettes that they were smoking. I can’t remember any of that. Here We Go Magic went on first and only played three songs as the singer was very sick. During the Titus gig I was standing beside this sickly singer when he began kissing his female band mate ferociously. She was wearing tiny denim shorts and my house mate guessed they were in a relationship. It was really weird. The singer looked like some sort of indie poet. Someone I would expect to have a social disorder. He was taken over by “the rock n roll”.
The show was the loudest thing I have ever been to and I had to stand with fingers in my ears. It was too loud. Everyone had seemed to loose their mind. The five people remained at the bar watching the screen except during the gig the movie cut off and security camera footage of the stage appeared. They were watching the gig on the tv which was literally deafening the room they were sitting in.
Somewhere amongst all of this is a reason why “The Airing of Grievences” by Titus Andronicus is my favourite album of the year. There is a release date of March 9th for the follow up, “The Monitor”.
this review was destroyed by gregg houston
I think that this review is brilliant.