Titus Andronicus Kicked off Their Tour w/ Spider Bags and Baked at First Unitarian Church, 9/11/15

I took a few pics of Baked before I decided that this wasn't the best venue for photos.

#TMLT Across America

Following a five-night residency at Brooklyn's Shea Stadium for the release of The Most Lamentable Tragedy and an in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ, Titus Andronicus officially kicked off their 2015 fall tour in the basement of Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church on Friday, September 11th. Joining them for most of the U.S. leg of the tour are Merge labelmates Spider Bags and Shea Stadium paisanos Baked.

As we left my house, Gentleman Jim sent me back inside to change into shorts and suggested I bring a second shirt for the ride home. I, reluctantly, listened as far as exchanging my rock and roll jeans for my suburban dad cargo shorts; but I ignored his advice regarding a dry shirt. As soon as we walked into the dimly lit church basement, I knew I'd made a mistake.

I'd never seen a show at First Unitarian Church before, and I thought it would be some former house of worship converted to a rock venue. Instead, the building is a functioning Unitarian church with occasional shows in the basement. That basement looks exactly like you'd expect: small recessed light fixtures in the drop ceiling and wood paneling on the walls.

I'd seen Baked open for Titus Andronicus at Asbury Lanes last year. They play around with lots of sounds I love: some droning noise, guitars strummed with the tremolo bar, etc. I've been on kind of a Creation Records kick lately, and Baked play right into that with maybe an updated Brooklyn version of the sound. It became clear during their set that picture-taking would be futile for this show, so Gentleman Jim and I headed back to the car to stash my camera bag.

We stayed outside the building, breathing oxygen, for as long as we could but headed back inside when we heard the start of Spider Bags' set. I caught Spider Bags at The Saint a while back, and they pretty much blew me away. This time, I made the mistake of waiting too long to head inside. We got stuck way in the back of the room, and I felt a little detached from the whole thing as tall guys wearing backpacks continually had to walk or stand right where I was. From what I could see, the band looked as wild as ever; and I definitely perked up for songs like "Japanese Vacation" and "Eyes of Death."

I wasn't going to make the same mistake for Titus Andronicus; so, after filling my lungs up with air outside, I made my way back in just a few minutes before their set. A precariously perched set of monitors was right next to me as I stood safely outside the scrum at stage right.

Patrick Stickles took the stage with a few members of the band. He made his introductory speech, which I always appreciate, laying the ground rules for not letting your own good time infringe on anyone else's good time during the show. People mostly listen to that, but this audience would end up being a little drunker and more aggressive than the one I experienced at a packed-out Shea.

After a version of "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape with the Flood of Detritus" with just Stickles and keyboard player Elio DeLuca, the rest of the band climbed onstage for "The Magic Morning" section of The Most Lamentable Tragedy. From "Lookalike" to "Dimed Out," it appeared that most of the people up front knew the lyrics. Things, as expected, got particularly crazy during "Dimed Out;" and I kept one eye on the monitors rocking back and forth over my head. Later in the set, Stickles climbed the scaffolding for a moment that "rocked but wasn't safe," and I thought the whole thing was coming down.

Someone who obviously hadn't listened to Stickles's opening speech jumped up on the stage and tried to stage dive into the crowd at one point. Stickles restrained him and had security eject him. There were a few boos, and I wasn't sure if they were aimed at the offender or the band; but they quickly dissipated as the show progressed. I'll admit to having someone ejected myself who had managed to get so drunk at the BYO venue as to pose a danger to himself and a puke risk to those around him.

The rest of the show was a pretty rowdy but respectful affair, the crowd in front of the stage heaving forward and backwards at all the right times. There were a few more TMLT selections -- "Fatal Flaw," "C'mon Siobhán," "No Future Part V: In Endless Dreaming" -- as well as old favorites including "legendary hit song, A More Perfect Union." It got pretty steamy; and I was grateful to, for once, be unencumbered by my camera bag. I did ready my apology to Gentleman Jim for ever doubting his dry shirt advice.

Titus Andronicus usually throw a cover or two into their sets, and it's often a Bruce Springsteen song. On Friday, they did a version of "Born in the U.S.A." -- complete with iconic keyboard riff. The song's disaffected and bitter lyrics famously contrast with its anthemic and patriotic-sounding chorus; and, in my opinion, it was a good choice for the day. Things ended just before midnight with "Titus Andronicus" from The Airing of Grievances. The speakers never fell on me.

Heading up the stairs into the evening felt like emerging from underwater, and my lungs took in all the clean Philly air they could. My shirt stuck to me during the ride back home. I wondered what I'd do for a post without any pictures, but I figured I'd just have to write around a thousand words. Hopefully, I'll get a few pictures when I see Titus Andronicus at Warsaw in a few weeks. I remember the light there being pretty good.