Here’s the thing about Titus Andronicus and the So So Glos naming their tour “Bring Back The Dudes”: Not every “dude” has the same interpretation of what that word means.
The bands clearly meant “dude” as a term of endearment that spoke to a shared community and camaraderie. They toasted each other at a Days Inn last night, they shared a band member (multi-instrumentalist Adam Reich), they joined each other on stage. But while the bands exhibited the kind of kinship that has led to some of the area’s most exciting Titus Andronicus shows, some of the rowdier members of the crowd used “Bring Back the Dudes” as an opportunity to flex their testosterone in the pit.
To be fair, most Titus Andronicus shows are some degree of rowdy and that’s part of their charm. It’s also worth mentioning that last night’s show was not anywhere in the same hemisphere as the disastrous nights that came earlier on this tour. In Athens, Ga., somebody handed out confederate flags to the crowd during “A More Perfect Union,” which Stickles subsequently used as kindling and toilet paper. In Durham, N.C. Stickles used Twitter to chastise some fans who threw out some homophobic slurs. Nothing that terrible occurred last night and the So So Glos even commented that it was “nice to be back in the northeast.”
Weird pit dynamics aside, the Titus set also suffered a bit from the band’s lack of awareness regarding the amount of time they had onstage. Stickles brought drummer (and only other remaining original member) Eric Harm to the front to sing his own song stating that Harm is the one that assures that the band gets anywhere on time and that the show’s late start time was Stickles’ own fault. Due to the 10:50 p.m. start time, the band realized around midnight that they were still going to have to leave the stage at 12:20 a.m. and therefore edit their two hour setlist. One can only wonder if the inclusion of some of their mid-tempo songs were due to the belief that they had more time to include some energetic songs (like “Titus Andronicus” and “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, N.J.”) that were noticeably absent from the setlist.
The celebratory vibe eventually won out. The tour had various people (including the Black Sparks’ drummer Nathaniel Salfi and All Our Noise’s Raul Zair de Leon) videotaping the set from different vantage points on stage and in the crowd. One of the cameramen did a stage dive, shooting an aerial view during “A More Perfect Union.” Then after their usual finish of “Titus Andronicus Forever,” the So So Glos came onstage for a medley that included “I Love Rock and Roll,” “I Wanna Be Sedated” and a reworked version of “No Sleep Til Brooklyn.” If bringing back the dudes means bringing back that more professional version of punk rock karaoke and the celebratory dancing intended by the band, by all means, bring the dudes back. Just leave the hostility at home.
