Author: Elwyn Pratt
The sound of powerful and raucous punk rocking could be heard across
campus as Titus Andronicus and opener Ceremony performed at Sycamore
Glen on Wednesday, Nov. 7, for a crowd of about 60. KOXY and ASOC
sponsored the rowdy and energetic concert.
The music was, in fact, entirely appropriate for a post-Election Night.
“This first song goes out to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, because they’re
back. Back for four more years,” Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick
Stickles said before the band launched into a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The
Boys Are Back in Town.”
“[Titus Andronicus] is kind of at the forefront of this movement in punk
rock right now that’s very much about combining patriotism and the
anger that goes with punk rock, and not making that mean, ‘I hate my
country,’ but making that mean, ‘I love my country, and I want to make
it better.’ So at the heart of things they’re a very American band,”
KOXY station manager Gabe Mathews (senior) said.
The concert set-up was minimal, but it did the trick. Some lights strung
across the stage flashed to the beat of the songs and a Gadsden flag
hung limply on a branch nearby. A red floodlight made the tree behind
Ceremony glow red as they charged through their opening setlist.
Ceremony seemed to be unfamiliar to most of the audience, but the
shout-along songs were nonetheless received with enthusiasm. Most crowd
members contentedly nodded their head to the music, while others full-on
head-banged. Lead singer Ross Ferrar himself was head-banging in
between verses, gripping the microphone with one hand and clenching the
other in a tight fist by his side.
Even so, the setlist was a little tame for those familiar with
Ceremony’s hardcore discography. Though they kept old fans pleased when
they picked up the pace on songs like the angry “Open Head,” the
performance mostly featured their newer toned-down songs, like the
steady-riffed “Adult” from their latest album “Zoo.”
“I definitely thought punk rock was just screaming, so to find out that
it isn’t was nice,” Caitlin Fein (sophomore) said after Ceremony’s set.
Titus
Andronicus was next, and by the time they started tuning the crowd had
amassed to over fifty people. “Four more years!” was chanted throughout
the intermission. The DJ made a tongue-in-cheek response by playing
Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” and the audience loved it.
Named after the famously violent Shakespearean tragedy, Titus Andronicus
incorporated punk-inspired sounds with intellectual and
philosophy-inspired lyrics. Stickles’ voice often sounded like he’d been
shouting all the way from the band’s home state of New Jersey for his
entire life. At other times he slurred his words like Joe Strummer of
the Clash. Each song was packed with passionate, angsty energy akin to
both the Clash’s 70’s punk rock and 90’s grunge bands.
Their newest album, “Local Business,” was released Oct. 23. The band has
spent the past few months traveling around the country, promoting the
hashtag #LocalBusinessForever and playing special shows in pizzerias and
hardware stores as part of their campaign to advocate buying local.
Maybe they were rocking too hard that night, because Titus Andronicus’
set was interrupted frequently due to technical failure. But Stickles
managed to entertain the audience with deliberately awful small talk.
“How about that other sports team, do they suck or what? So you guys are
college kids. I loved college. Best five months of my life,” Stickles
said while the amplifiers were being fixed. “Hey Eric, do the drum thing
about the joke.” Eric Harm replied with a rim shot.
Stickles’ dry humor was much needed, because technical failure cut many
of the songs short. After a performance of “Ecco Homo” was stopped
midway, Stickles went back to his hilariously deadpan banter, walking up
to students and asking them about their majors.
The show went through a few half-starts before it went into full swing.
“Obviously Titus wanted to have their sound be as exact as possible, so
they would stop playing when something went out. But they were awesome
sports about it,” Dustin Neiderman (senior), a sound technician for the
show, said. Finally, the problem (a faulty power strip) was fixed.
About a dozen people were jumping and shoving each other in typical punk
rock concert fashion, which the band seemed to appreciate. “These kids
got the moves,” Stickles said. By the final chord, the mosh pit had
consumed a third of the crowd.
“It made me feel like a giant energy ball,” Campbell Scott (first-year) said, “exploding and imploding over and over.”
“I
felt like an animal,” Rounak Maiti (first-year) said. Maiti was among
the 10 or so audience members who had taken their shirts off mid-brawl.
Though the sheer noise level of the concert probably attracted a few
curious visitors, it was apparent from the amount of voices belting out
lyrics that more than a few Titus Andronicus fans were present. A burst
of cheers welcomed the opening riffs of favorites like “Still Life with
Hot Deuce and Silver Platter” and “In a Big City.” When Stickles finally
said “Now get back to your homework!” at the end of the night, everyone
booed.
“To have a band that people can get really amped about and know the
songs and be excited about it in that kind of way, I feel like that is
something we [KOXY] haven’t had that we’re trying to get to. We’re
trying to increase the presence of the radio show on campus and this was
a great start to that,” KOXY programming director Allan Van Vliet
(sophomore) said. “Everyone there was smiling, having fun, dancing. I’d
call it a big success.”
The music was, in fact, entirely appropriate for a post-Election Night. “This first song goes out to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, because they’re back. Back for four more years,” Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles said before the band launched into a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town.”
“[Titus Andronicus] is kind of at the forefront of this movement in punk rock right now that’s very much about combining patriotism and the anger that goes with punk rock, and not making that mean, ‘I hate my country,’ but making that mean, ‘I love my country, and I want to make it better.’ So at the heart of things they’re a very American band,” KOXY station manager Gabe Mathews (senior) said.
The concert set-up was minimal, but it did the trick. Some lights strung across the stage flashed to the beat of the songs and a Gadsden flag hung limply on a branch nearby. A red floodlight made the tree behind Ceremony glow red as they charged through their opening setlist.
Ceremony seemed to be unfamiliar to most of the audience, but the shout-along songs were nonetheless received with enthusiasm. Most crowd members contentedly nodded their head to the music, while others full-on head-banged. Lead singer Ross Ferrar himself was head-banging in between verses, gripping the microphone with one hand and clenching the other in a tight fist by his side.
Even so, the setlist was a little tame for those familiar with Ceremony’s hardcore discography. Though they kept old fans pleased when they picked up the pace on songs like the angry “Open Head,” the performance mostly featured their newer toned-down songs, like the steady-riffed “Adult” from their latest album “Zoo.”
“I definitely thought punk rock was just screaming, so to find out that it isn’t was nice,” Caitlin Fein (sophomore) said after Ceremony’s set.
Titus Andronicus was next, and by the time they started tuning the crowd had amassed to over fifty people. “Four more years!” was chanted throughout the intermission. The DJ made a tongue-in-cheek response by playing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” and the audience loved it.
Named after the famously violent Shakespearean tragedy, Titus Andronicus incorporated punk-inspired sounds Stickles’ voice often sounded like he’d been shouting all the way from the band’s home state of New Jersey for his entire life. At other times he slurred his words like Joe Strummer of the Clash. Each song was packed with passionate, angsty energy akin to both the Clash’s 70’s punk rock and 90’s grunge bands.
Their newest album, “Local Business,” was released Oct. 23. The band has spent the past few months traveling around the country, promoting the hashtag #LocalBusinessForever and playing special shows in pizzerias and hardware stores as part of their campaign to advocate buying local.
Maybe they were rocking too hard that night, because Titus Andronicus’ set was interrupted frequently due to technical failure. But Stickles managed to entertain the audience with deliberately awful small talk. “How about that other sports team, do they suck or what? So you guys are college kids. I loved college. Best five months of my life,” Stickles said while the amplifiers were being fixed. “Hey Eric, do the drum thing about the joke.” Eric Harm replied with a rim shot.
Stickles’ dry humor was much needed, because technical failure cut many of the songs short. After a performance of “Ecco Homo” was stopped midway, Stickles went back to his hilariously deadpan banter, walking up to students and asking them about their majors.
The show went through a few half-starts before it went into full swing. “Obviously Titus wanted to have their sound be as exact as possible, so they would stop playing when something went out. But they were awesome sports about it,” Dustin Neiderman (senior), a sound technician for the show, said. Finally, the problem (a faulty power strip) was fixed.
About a dozen people were jumping and shoving each other in typical punk rock concert fashion, which the band seemed to appreciate. “These kids got the moves,” Stickles said. By the final chord, the mosh pit had consumed a third of the crowd.
“It made me feel like a giant energy ball,” Campbell Scott (first-year) said, “exploding and imploding over and over.”
“I felt like an animal,” Rounak Maiti (first-year) said. Maiti was among the 10 or so audience members who had taken their shirts off mid-brawl.
Though the sheer noise level of the concert probably attracted a few curious visitors, it was apparent from the amount of voices belting out lyrics that more than a few Titus Andronicus fans were present. A burst of cheers welcomed the opening riffs of favorites like “Still Life with Hot Deuce and Silver Platter” and “In a Big City.” When Stickles finally said “Now get back to your homework!” at the end of the night, everyone booed.
“To have a band that people can get really amped about and know the songs and be excited about it in that kind of way, I feel like that is something we [KOXY] haven’t had that we’re trying to get to. We’re trying to increase the presence of the radio show on campus and this was a great start to that,” KOXY programming director Allan Van Vliet (sophomore) said. “Everyone there was smiling, having fun, dancing. I’d call it a big success.”
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