Let Me Show You My Fatal Flaw

On the fourth of five consecutive nights playing in the hot, small Shea Stadium BK space in East Williamsburg, the great NYC band Titus Andronicus celebrated the release of its new 3LP rock opera out on Merge.

A black curtain was lifted a little after 9 PM on Monday night. The place was packed tight. T-A front man Patrick Stickles stood alone on stage and launched into lengthy dialogue. It’s a wonderful part of the T-A show. When Stickles speaks his preamble off the cuff, it’s often colorful, interesting, motivational views of the world from the punk perspective. He spoke about what the attendee might expect forthcoming from the band. He expresses hope that patrons can respect one another when attendees do what they do when the music gets fierce and rapid. It really sets a great tone for the evening. He really grabs everyone’s attention.

Stickles revealed that this night would be his last as a 29-year-old which made it extra exciting. The band entered stage right and away we went for more than two and a half hours of greatness. Opening with familiar favorites Fear and Loathing & A More Perfect Union, the crowd went bonkers and sang along loudly. Unintended leaks and additional approved advanced releases of the new material made it such that even the new songs were familiar to the audience, some of whom were there for all or some of the previous three nights at Shea.

Fatal Flaw off the new release was the night’s highlight. Later, we got In a Big City and Hot Deuce (the latter is a personal fave). The band was in exceptional form given the challenge of playing so much new material coming off a layoff – not to mention the varied setlists during what you’d have to say is a historic five-night sold-out run at a true-blue DIY venue. It seems like guitarist Adam Reich has taken on a more prominent role with several more assertive lead parts and a greater proclivity to prowl toward the audience with the head of his guitar thrust high and outward.

At one point, drummer Eric Harm had to step away for a few minutes. In what appeared to be an unscripted moment, former T-A drummer Ian Dykstra came on in relief and had a hilarious give and take with Stickles before launching into an old number of Dykstra’s choosing.

The most well-known new song “Dimed Out” came late in the evening which sent the crowd into a sweaty frenzy. I thought it moved at a pace a little too quick to relish. No complaints though about any aspect of the evening. The encore consisted of three covers. Take It Easy/Hurts So Good/Closing Time. I could be totally wrong on this but it appeared Reich was aggravated by the trio of selections to end the gig. On Take It Easy, he turned away from the band and didn’t really participate in the sound-making. Stickles made a direct remark to Reich during that song which I believe was a plea to get involved. Later, just before Closing Time, Stickles acknowledged that there had been a “loss of interest” in the encore. Not so from the fans’ standpoint but perhaps Reich?

Admission bought in advance via Brown Paper was only $11.34 with service fee. Twelve-ounce cans of Bud were just three bucks. Shea flip-flopped the positions of the makeshift bar and merch area which seemed to gobble up more than the usual amount of space in the back of the room.

Stickles is in pretty amazing physical and vocal shape given how active he is on stage with all of his limbs. He’s doing a solid two and a half hours and more on five straight nights in a sweatbox. He’s belting – sometimes yelling pretty much the whole way.

Nobody here is doing what he’s doing in terms of giving so much to a scene right now. His intense exploration of dark, difficult life challenges is expressed so specifically, you worry if he’s ok away from the job. But then you go to the show and hear him speak to the audience – both conversationally – and in song – and you feel better that perhaps he derives satisfaction from interactions that he manages to make very personal. And inspirational. I hope he feels it back somehow in some of the same ways we’re feeling it from him on this end.

I finally got to see the great band Swearin’ on Sunday. They played a slot at a three-day music festival organized and promoted by Gigawatts which calls itself a Brooklyn-based “media brand with DIY roots.”

I attended day 3 of the fest. The expansive Wick/Well complex on Meserole in East Williamsburg proved to be a wonderful space for the type of big dual-stage event Gigawatts was trying to pull off. Benches lined the sides of the outdoor viewing area and picnic tables with umbrellas were set up in the rear of the space.

It was upper 80’s with a nice breeze as a bulk of the patrons congregated for the more intriguing lineup of bands playing outside. The old brick brewery complex which is now the Wick towered behind the Well’s outdoor stage.

A permanent, immovable pole with an upside-down exit sign was positioned just in front of the center of the elevated stage. It might have been a more annoying obstruction of view had it been more crowded but there was plenty of room for everyone to stand in a place that would avoid the blind spot.

Gigawatts no doubt ran a deficit on this event given the dazzling lineup of talent assembled and the light turnout it was said to have drawn on all three days. At one point prior to day 2 of the fest, organizers slashed the cost of the one-day pass from $35 at the door to 20 bucks. Sunday’s day 3 admission at the door went back to $35 which I think is fair given the lineup but it still likely kept people away.

Swearin’ was the draw for me. I’ve long been wearing out spins of their self-titled full length debut and their follow-up Surfing Strange. I play those two records in my ears on the bus on the way to work all the time. The band was really great on Sunday. The skies were just starting to lose light. Coming off a break to pursue other obligations, Swearin’ was remarkably tight. Fronted by Allison Crutchfield (pictured above) and Kyle Gilbride, the band is at its best when both sing on the same song as they did on Here to Hear and Kenosha.

Mermaid and Fat Chance also sounded wonderful.

Swearin is based in Philly now. Gilbride (pictured above) works as a recording jack-of-all-trades at his own outfit Wherever Audio. His ability to gain intriguing guitar sound from bands he works with is evident on the first song from the much-anticipated All Dogs record coming out in late August. Crutchfield is coming off a long stretch playing in her sister Katie’s band Waxahatchee. Both sisters are exceptional songwriting talents. Comparisons would be difficult and probably unfair given how great and unique they both are.

Speaking of siblings, the other band I’d been anxious to see Sunday features two brothers. Ian Graham (pictured above) fronts the Lansing, Michigan band Cheap Girls. His brother Ben plays drums. It was fun to watch the two interact during their 45-minute set. Ian’s songwriting on the band’s latest release Famous Graves is right up my alley. There’s a lot of determination to take it as it comes but not before being tough on one’s self about how best to deal with the day-to-day.

Man in Question is a great, great song. So is Knock Me Over which sounded awesome Sunday. Says Ian Graham: “Love and connection are the toughest of friends. All starts with an interview, turns into a job. But I’m not above at least checking in. A slight reality that I’ll stick around.”

Saw a couple great tattoos Sunday. The first pair of permanent ink came on the back of calves. “Step” on one and “Lightly” printed in small lettering on the other. The other was a detailed depiction of the Chrysler Building on a different woman’s calf. Nice job by both individuals with the unique and interesting choices.

Beer was great too from the Well’s long list of choices. Thanks to Whitey for steering me right with the good stuff. Tonight, it’s back to the rock show for night four of the five night Titus Andronicus run at Shea.

-Reporter Robin Wright penned a great piece on the Iran nuke deal for the New Yorker this past week. Writing from Tehran – at perhaps some risk to her security – Wright called the agreement “the most significant nonproliferation agreement in decades.” It seems we take for granted nuclear arsenals already in existence across the world. Why not celebrate an instance that aims to at least delay another country from going all the way with its destruction capability? For context, Wright details the most recent four countries to add the bomb. Citing Ploughshares Fund as her source, here’s the lineup with each country’s estimated number of nukes. In each case, diplomatic efforts failed to stop proliferation.

Pakistan: 120
India: 110
Israel: 80
North Korea: 10

Five other superpowers (Russia, US, France, China and the UK control almost 16-thousand nukes) have buttons – that if pressed could unleash end-of-the-world-type nuclear devastation. To the boobs in the US Congress saying they oppose a hard-to-gain agreement to delay Iran’s entry to the Nuke club: Get a grip and support the notion that this world is better off if we all back off the bomb.