The Most Lamentable Tragedy Turns 10

Patrick Stickles was onstage, every fiber of his being soaked through with sweat, wearing nothing but black underpants, while his band played “Freebird.” To the uninitiated, the premise would be absurd: a punk band wrapping up a five-night residency at the (now-dearly-departed) Brooklyn DIY institution Shea Stadium with a slew of classic rock covers. To anyone familiar with Titus Andronicus, there was no better culmination. Shea was a tiny room hidden on a dark industrial street in the no man’s land between Williamsburg and Bushwick, and the residency had been a feverish, oppressively hot week leading up to Patrick Stickles’ 30th birthday, the day Titus Andronicus released their fourth album, The Most Lamentable Tragedy. He turns 40 today, and the album turns 10.