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So I know I bashed Kris a few posts ago, but he has redeemed himself somewhat. After promising to return to the old Ataris’ style and touring playing most of The Ataris’ best album acoustic, Kris deserves a round of applause. Of course it could just be a scheme to get some more money, but I appreciate Kris revisiting early Ataris material. Maybe he’s gone through another divorce and needs to sing some good old fashioned break up songs. Either way, here is my review of his show at Baltimore’s The Ottobar last Monday, Feb. 25th. (The fan who shouted “no!” was me. I am so punk rock. </sarcasm> 
The Ataris formed and started playing pop-punk in 1995. Led by vocalist and guitarist Kris Roe, The Ataris progressed through five albums, Anywhere but Here, Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits, End is Forever, So Long, Astoria, and Welcome to the Night, getting more and more radio-friendly and having a complete line-up change aside from Roe because no one in the band could stand to work with him once it became obvious he was only interested in air time on the radio. Recently, Roe seems to have realized his mistakes and has been getting back to basics. First came the announcement last September that The Ataris would start recording material resembling their old sound, “Even though artistically I may have changed personally. I do think The Ataris next record will sort of pick up where End is Forever and Blue Skies, Broken Hearts - Next 12 Exits… left off,” read the statement from Kris Roe. If this wasn’t enough to excite the old fans, later came the announcement that Roe would be touring and playing acoustic Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits in its entirety. If that wasn’t enough to excite the old fans, then there must be no hope for them. As much as this old fan wanted to hate on Kris Roe because of the recent crap released by The Ataris, I could not deny the opportunity to hear some of my all-time favorite tunes played acoustically by the guy that wrote them.
Kris Roe appeared at The Ottobar in Baltimore last Monday, and it was spectacular. By the time he took the stage at 10:30, the floor was maybe a third full. One might expect to see a bigger crowd for the famed front man, but then again it was a Monday.
Kris catered to his old fans needs and gave us all an overwhelming dose of old Ataris songs, playing the majority of Blue Skies, but not quite the entire album. He responded well to requests and played a couple from End is Forever and “Boxcar”, a Jawbreaker cover, from Anywhere but Here….
Kris must’ve strained his hand pushing through songs one after another, but he gave himself a break as he interacted with the crowd. He gave lengthy explanations about the song meanings and inspirations, which is always fun to know, especially when they involve juicy drama – Kris admitted to cheating on his girlfriend with a friend of his girlfriend who was also in a relationship. He also mentioned that he ran into the boyfriend of the cheatee in a bar later, “and it was not a good time,” he said. He often poked fun at himself and his songwriting since the majority of Ataris material was full of teen angst and break-up lyrics. Before playing “The Last Song I Will Ever Write about a Girl,” Kris said “Obviously that wasn’t true,” referring to the song title.
One fan who might’ve only been familiar with The Ataris’ radio hits shouted out “Boys of Summer!” and Kris asked the crowd, “You guys really want to hear that song?” as if to suggest that this show was not meant to promote the radio-friendly Ataris songs. Another audience member shouted “No!” because they definitely weren’t in the mood to hear an Eagles cover song when they had paid 10 bucks to hear old Ataris material. He did play radio-hit “In This Diary” and got the teeny bopper fans to freak out.
The show was a great time. I’m not sure why Kris Roe has decided to revert to his roots, but I appreciate it and I was willing to contribute $10 to funding his artistic relapse. If you are not familiar with The Ataris, check them out at www.myspace.com/theataris.
Richmond, VA seems to be the nucleus of new music that falls under any subgenre of punk rock these days. If you live there you’re sure to get caught up in the double helixes and start a band or go to a thousand shows a week.
Recently I discovered a couple good Richmond bands at a show in VA Beach - Resonance and Permanent.
Resonance is a melodic punk band with members from Richmond and VA Beach. I saw them perform last Saturday at The Jewish Mother in VA Beach and they were a lot of fun. Their devoted hometown fans pissed off the managers of the place by stage diving a whole lot (why did you agree to have a hardcore show if you didn’t expect stage dives and/or slam dancing? . . . but that’s another story, I guess).
Not realizing who the band was when they started to play, I could hear in them a cross between Jawbreaker, Lifetime, and Hot Water Music. Interestingly enough hey list those three bands as influences on their myspace page in addition to Embrace and Turning Point.
The vocals are somewhere between singing and screaming and remind me of screamo bands like A Static Lullaby or Thursday, but the music defiantly takes the sound in a better direction. They aren’t really on the pile-on or two-steping side of hardcore, so tough guys might not find much appeal in this band. However, they are talented and make some really good tunes. Just check it out: myspace.com/resonanceva
(myspace)
Permanent. This is further up the tough guy alley, but still toned down enough for those who get sick of juggajugs and metal riffs. There isn’t as much melody, and there are a couple metal riffs. The vocals are all screams. In general, it’s faster and angrier. There are some beautiful breakdowns that’ll get you swaying back and forth wishing you could two-step.
Their sound reminds me a lot of Ruiner, but they are not as fast, which I think I enjoy more. They’re a lot of fun and I was surprised this band played first on the Dragonsaur bill last Saturday in VA Beach. These guys should be huge by now. Get into it!!!
I recently attended the first ever School of Rock Fest in Asbury Park, NJ, the Bouncing Souls’ homestate. The Bouncing Souls, Bad Brains, Loved Ones, and Lucero were a few of the great musicians to play.
During the Bouncing Souls’ set, I was inspired to commentate on some “show etiquette”. I don’t know how upsetting crowd surfing is to others, but I often find myself really pissed at shows when the same people keep falling on my head. I surprised myself at this show when I found myself flicking off a female crowd surfer I didn’t know and screaming “Fuck you!” twice while looking her square in the eyes. She’d surfed onto my head at least five times and I believe by the end of the set she had gone a total of seven times.
Crowd surfing can be fun although it’s rarely necessary. When one is injured or dehydrated and needs to get out of there, sure. But other than that . . .
I can understand the appeal. I mean, it is a cool feeling. People are lifting you up. You are special and people actually want to put their hands on you. In reality they just don’t want you to break their neck and they are compassionate enough to keep you from breaking yours. You could also make it closer to the stage, closer to the band members, and maybe onto the stage depending on what kind of show you’re attending. Other than these desires, I’m not sure why people feel the need to crowd surf over and over.
During the Bouncing Souls at the festival, there was a barracade and there was no way you were making it onto the stage. The only way you’d be able to interact with the band members would be if you were surfing while Greg had the mic in the crowd.
Why did certain people feel the need to surf seven times? More importantly, why did audience members agree to lift the same people up and keep them up?
I suggest only surfing at smaller clubs when you know there’s a chance of making it up onto the stage and singing along to one of your favorite songs. Pick the line in the song that you love, go up 30 seconds to 45 seconds before that line so you can make it onto the stage, sing along, and jump off. How accomplished would that make you feel? It’s a great feeling!
Where is the desire in surfing over and over again as you piss off every single person in the crowd? As much fun as it is for you, it’s not fun for anyone else. At all. Your sweaty ass crack is rubbing on the backs of unsuspecting victims’ heads. Don’t be surprised if we grab your shoe and throw it. As for what else could happen to you: we are grouping every possible body part, you could loose your wallet in addition to your shoes, we’re going to pull your hair, you might land on your neck, you might loose your clothes, you might not make it to the stage and just end up in a sweaty pit of people in an unknown location. All this for what?! I can understand enduring this if you really want to sing along on stage, but why else would you continue these antics? So you can run over to your best friend afterward and brag that you broke the world record for most surfing during one song?
Why does this continue? Maybe the meatheads just want a good feel-up.
Maybe all crowd surfing should be banned by federal law. However, stage diving would be almost impossible, and stage dives make me feel more alive.
Maybe I will tackle stage diving etiquette at a later date.
For a quick review of my two favorite bands . . .
The headliners were, of course, our nation’s capital’s own Bad Brains. They closed the festival on Sunday night with a set of about 50 percent reggae and 50 percent legendary hardcore punk. After their classic “At the Movies,” crazed circle pit-addicts hollered, “One more song!” over and over again (probably hoping to hear “Big Takeover” cough Ilovethatsong cough). HR’s performance was a little lacking, seeing as how he didn’t move too much and sometimes sang in a monotone voice. However, I was greatful. He didn’t show up in a wild outfit wearing a helmet of some sort; he didn’t storm off stage; and the band only referred to the crowd as “a bunch of assholes” once. So for recent Bad Brains performances, I’m assuming this was one of the better. Not that I’m an expert.
The Bouncing Souls put on a great performance as always, despite the sound system acting up. They played a great variety of stuff, and that always excites me. They of course played a couple obligatory How I Spent My Summer Vacation favorites (”True Believers” and “Private Radio”). They threw in a couple newer ones from last summer’s The Gold Record and 2003’s Anchors Aweigh. The songs that really got the crowd pumped were the favorites from Hopeless Romantic, Maniacal Laughter, and even a super old favorite from The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle, “Joe Lies” (title based on a scene from Say Anything . . . The Bouncing Souls love my favorite 80’s movies). The band always has a god amount of energy, especially considering they’re all 30-something years old. Greg is awesome about getting up on the barricade and letting the crowd have the mic.
Dave Hause. New York.
The Loved Ones finished up their tour with Strike Anywhere at the Ottobar in Baltimore last Wednesday.
The Loved Ones have a pop punk sound. Their sound attracts a lot of younger main-stream punk kids who enjoyed running into each other because they thought it was funny. That, or skanking, which seemed out of place for The Loved Ones fast pop punk. The Loved Ones did a good job of getting the crowd warmed up, especially the two meatheads with wifebeaters trying to hurt each other in their makeshift mosh pit. They may have also gotten the crowd a little riled up, poking fun at the young kids with X-ed up hands and straight edge kids. “Oh you’re straight edge? I wonder how long that’s going to last,” announced lead vocalist/ guitar, Dave Hause. Some may not have been as amused as I was. He also poked fun at a audience member in the front row, asking “Are you having any fun? You don’t look like you’re having any fun. Are yuo just desperately waiting for Strike Anywhere to get up here?” It’s good to see humble band members who aren’t afraid to say what’s on their mind and interact with the audience.
Philidelphia natives, The Loved Ones played favorites off of their Fat Wreck release, Keep Your Heart and their Jade Tree self titled release.
About five people owned the pit during The Loved Ones, pushing and shoving or skanking, for some reason . . .
When Strike Anywhere hit the stage, the whole floor erupted and The Ottobar turned into a sauna (thank God for the fan off to the left side of the floor under the balcony). The stage dives started immediately. The pit opened up, and towards the end of their set, a giant stuffed dog was being tossed around. Don’t ask.
I’m not the biggest fan of Strike Anywhere, but no one can deny the amazing stage presence they have. They generate so much energy in the crowd, and it’s amazing to watch everyone singing along and pumping their fists to the political-driven, “anti-establishment” lyrics.
They played favorites off of their past five albums. Their newest, Dead FM, was released last September.
The audience was obviously in love, and the floor was obviously drenched in their sweat. Strike Anywhere only gave us a 50 minute set, and it left everyone screaming for more, literally. The cries of “one more song!” went on for at least five minutes until they gave up.
The show was just about sold out, which is odd for a Wednesday night, but it was a benefit show for Callum Robbins. Callum Robbins is the son of J. Robbins, a Baltimore native and indie record producer. Callum is just a toddler and he’s been stricken with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He will never be able to walk. His parents, an indie producer and art school student, are trying to raise money for his treatment.
The Loved Ones as well as Strike Anywhere dedicated their sets to the child.
