Titus Andronicus

2-4 Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, London, N1 6NU

Titus Andronicus is the earliest Shakespeare’s tragedy. It is about Roman times, and it is supposed to be fantastic. However, if you ask to JuanFran or me what Titus Andronicus is about, we may have a quite different answer…

We would talk you about an incredible rock band based in New Jersey that Juan discovered in a trip to NYC last year – they performed in one of those Barack Obama campaign shows. He was so utterly impressed about their performance that as soon as they came to London in tour he couldn’t leave the chance to go and watch them. And so did I, and that is what this post is about.

Titus Andronicus

The concert was at The Hoxton Bar and Grill, a bar/venue in Hoxton – Old Street – I had been before just once. The only I could remember about the place was that the food was quite expensive and that it was a bit too posh for my taste, with somehow pricey drinks and not a big range of beers. Top of that, it has a nice terrace which is quite dangerous if you go around with Juan, as it will very likely will mean you’ll be on it smoking, or being accurate, watching he smoke for most of the time you spent in the place J.

What I didn’t know is that the place includes a quite nice venue on its backyard, and that it is a quite respected one in the area: any band playing there you may expect to be quite gifted, if not a lot. And so far and so forth, there we were, both of us, pint of Guinness in hand, waiting to the support bands.

The first one, to be honest, was a bit of a disappointment. Citizens they were called. Two girls, one singing and drumming and the other one playing the bass, did a good effort and had a quite nice pitch. That is not enough to generate appealing music, I’m afraid, and a third member would be really appreciated on the future. Good enough for a warming up, though.

The second band is a completely different story: Little Death. Maybe it has been the best not-known-at-all band I’ve seen ever. They played rock that sometimes sounded like Muse, sometimes sounded more like brit-pop. The singer voice was ok, but the most impressive fact about them is how solid as a band they sounded. Each single music was great – the guitarist was a virtuoso, the drummer almost broke down the patches with his mighty way of playing, and the bass… well, she was HOT! -, but that wasn’t really the point. The point is they appealed me as one of those bands that may sell loads and loads of albums if they put some effort on it, and, obviously, if they counted with the support of the industry. Really a lot of energy not too appreciated by the audience, if you want my point of view. But everybody there was about Titus Andronicus, I’m afraid… anyway, if I didn’t buy an album of this band, I’m afraid I won’t do it in the future in any other gig.

Well done!!

And latest but not least, Titus Andronicus. Pretty cool band, indeed: a nice mixture between korn, bruce springsteen and who knows what else. More professional than Little Death, they were really vigorous in their display. Juan told me that, on his view, this London performance was better than the NYC one, maybe because they were heading the gig. Vocal distortion, harmonics, everybody dancing around the stage… this is one of those bands that transmit a good feeling and somehow improve the mood of everybody around. It is not that much about the music, maybe, but about the atmosphere they were able to develop. And I’m not saying with that they are bad musicians, which would be nonsense. What I’m pointing out is that this is not their best virtue, because they can offer something else some other bands actually can’t.



Anyway, an incredible nite of music.