Titus Andronicus And Lucero Draw Crazed Fans

I enjoyed Titus Andronicus' South By Southwest Music Festival set last month, and was curious to see if I'd like them on my first drink at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern as much as I did on my 20th in Austin, Texas when I saw them again on Sunday night. I did.

The eclectic Glen Rock, N.J. group fronted by bearded and intense singer, keyboardist and harmonica player Patrick Stickles have an ecelctic sound and style that some folks may feel is too all-over-the-place, but I'm not one of those people. I heard elements of The Jam, Bruce Springsteen (the harmonica on "Joset Of Nazareth's Blues" sounds a lot like The Boss on "The Promised Land"), The Pogues, The Replacements and The Chantays in the too-brief 40-minute set that felt sloppier than it actually was — an attribute that's a good thing in my book.

"Titus Andronicus Forever" was a rip-roarin' roots and punk rocker that made me want to be their friend and not their foe despite the repeated "The enemy is everywhere" chorus. "Titus Andronicus," with its repeated chorus of "Your life is over," was just as great.

While I appreciate the songs on Titus Andronicus' lo-fi The Airing Of Grievances, it's on stage that the group really take off — which has made them one of my new favourite live bands.

You can see photos of Titus Andronicus' set here.

The crowd filled in considerably and the 'Shoe was essentially packed by the time Lucero came on stage at 10 p.m. The Memphis roots-punk band are one of those I've been familiar with, but never owned any albums from or seen perform. My relatively high expectations were exceeded.

I had no idea the sextet had such devoted, passionate and, ultimately, reckless followers. But the rowdy crowd was pressed to the front of, and sometimes on to, the stage as fanatics sang along, sprayed beer, pumped fists and crowd-surfed throughout the two-hour set — even during some of the slower, acoustic-based songs like "The Last Pale Light In The West" and "The War." And don't get me started on all the bromancing going on inside the sweaty club.

Singer/guitarist Ben Nichols' rough-hewn voice sounded like he must have been diluting his whiskey with shards of glass, but he and six-string partner Brian Venable infused the set with southern roots rock riffs that were equal parts Slobberbone and Drive-By Truckers. The steel player added subtle flavouring, as did Rick Steff's piano, organ and accordion contributions.

The set featured a handful of new songs from Lucero's forthcoming Republic/Universal debut as well as material from their six-studio album catalogue, including "Nights Like These," "I'll Just Fall," "Sweet Little Thing," "Here At The Starlite," "All Sewn Up," "Tears Don't Matter Much" and their cover of Jawbreaker's "Kiss The Bottle."

Nichols acknowledged that you should never end a show with a slow song, but that didn't stop him from ending the night with a two-song encore of the relatively down-tempo "Drink 'Til We're Gone" and "Nobody's Darlings."

By the time things were over, there was probably more broken glass on the 'Shoe floor than I've ever seen before.

You can see photos of Lucero's performance here.