Beefs 2011: Titus Andronicus Slam the Pogues over Poor Treatment on Joint Tour
Published Apr 05, 2011
Gruff indie rockers Titus Andronicus were ecstatic to tour with legendary Irish act the Pogues last month, but regrettably, Titus singer Patrick Stickles came off the trip with a bad taste in his mouth. In fact, a recent interview has Stickles stating that the Pogues treated the Titus crew like dirt."I hated the tour," Stickles told Spinner. "It made me furious throughout. I didn't think that we were treated at all with the respect that we deserved, not even the respect as saying, 'we're an important punk band,' but respect that we're human beings."
The singer goes on to say that his band were barely acknowledged throughout the tour, despite playing together for nine dates.
"They never took the time to introduce themselves or watch any of our performances," he continued. "The closest that we got to them was when we would have to load out after our show so they could have a nice clear backstage area. We would be out in the alleyway, and they would pull up in their hotel shuttle bus."
The experience was disillusioning for Stickles, who previously was a massive fan of the Pogues. The big ticket affair and the business handlings of Shane MacGowan and co. also left the DIY-leaning Stickles fuming.
"The tickets were exorbitantly expensive, none of which trickled down to us, by the way. They paid us pittances -- not that that's the most important thing. They sing about celebrating the individual and they sing about everyone having dignity, even the downtrodden and stuff, yet they are happy to step on whoever they have to so that they can line their coffers to the extent that they want to.
"It raised a lot of questions about the intersection of punk rock and commerce. It firmed or reaffirmed for us a lot of things about how we want to construct our business model as we hopefully continue to grow."
Clearly the experience hasn't soured Titus Andronicus on the concert scene entirely. It sounds as if they played a pretty kick-ass set in Toronto with Fucked Up the other night.