Titus Andronicus at Turf Club (03/04/23)

There was a slight problem getting into the venue for the band had yet to provide the guest list. The reason: Titus Andronicus had yet to arrive. No problem. The staff at the Turf Club rolled with the moment and let me in as the gathering crowd of people ordered another round and the opening act stood at the front of the bar sipping Campari.

What’s nice about the Turf Club is its neighborhood feel, a place to hang out with friends while the band you came to see is still making its way across town.

Titus Andronicus did arrive with winter coats and musical equipment and soon Country Westerns took the stage.

Based out of Nashville with Joseph Plunket on vocals and lead guitar and Brian Kotzur leading the way on drums, they can best be described as combination of country, blues, western and soul fueled by the speed and intensity of punk rock.

Country Westerns played from their 2020 self-titled debut album with hard charging songs like “Anytime” and “TV Light.” The album was highlighted by Pitchfork as one of the 35 Best Rock Albums of that year. A sophomore album entitled Forgive the City on Fat Possum Records is also slated to be released later this year.

After Country Westerns finished their set, Titus Andronicus started the process of setting up their equipment, tuning their instruments and working with the sound engineer to get the right levels. Normally, the pre-concert routine is done before the crowd arrives but the audience was already there to see Chris Wilson tighten his drums, Liam Betson tune his lead guitars, R.J. Betson work the mic levels and front man Patrick Sticklers hustle between the dressing room and the stage.

From New Jersey Titus Andronicus lifted their name from the Shakespearian play about a Roman General who has a whole lot of revenge killing in mind, and so the band kicked off their set with “My Mother Is Going to Kill Me” which Pitchfork described as “… a nourishing slab of hard-rock beef.” The song is the lead song on their latest album The Will to Live, which was inspired/shaped by the unexpected death of former keyboardist and cousin to Stickles, Matt Miller.

They also played “(I’m) Screwed” and “Give Me Grief” from their new album before Stickles addressed the elephant in the room. The reason for their tardiness was due to issues with their touring van, issues that involved a three-hour delay in the suburb of Maplewood in which a new battery was replaced by Tim from AAA. Tim happened to be in the crowd and got a special shout-out from Stickles and a roar from the crowd for helping deliver the band.

Then Stickles said it was Saturday night and he knew they crowd came to hear the classics from their previous albums. In fact, Titus Andronicus’ setlist is a setlist, meaning that the songs heard at St. Paul are the same ones played in Madison, WI the night before. Or as Stickles told the Spokesman Review: “… I never want to just play the weirdest deep cuts in a place like Great Falls, MT…”

So Titus Andronicus cranked out the hits like “Four Score and Seven”, “A More Perfect Union” and “Titus Andronicus Forever” and the crowd soon turned the small neighborhood venue into a mosh pit for the closing songs.