| The Ataris |
| with Horsell Common, New School Hero |
| 23/9/2003, The Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne. |
|
I've been told that I tend to start all of my concert reviews with "Well, I headed on down to --insert venue name here--", so this time I thought I'd "mix it up" a little bit... So, I transported myself to a carpark near The Hi Fi Bar last night :P where I was pretty keen to see The Ataris. I'd had 2 great gigs over the past 2 months at the Hi-Fi (Soilwork and AFI), and was really looking forward to the trifecta. Alas, I didn't get it from The Ataris... New School Hero New School Hero were fantastic. I was really blown away with this band - they had a really great energy, and rocked out like you wouldn't believe. If you get a chance to see 'em, give it a go. Their drummer was really great, and they had to battle through a few technical difficulties as well (which is always a challenge). They handled it really professionally. Aside from their crap name (in my opinion), this band could have a really great future ahead of them. After their performance, I was quite excited about the calibre of music I was in store for - given these guys were only the opener... Horsell Common Horsell Common were pretty ordinary. Oh... and we had to wait 40 minutes after New School Hero finished their set to hear how ordinary they were. It was just mediocre hardcore. They had a lot of merchandise. That's about the best I can say about them unfortunately... The Ataris Well, The Ataris took to the stage a little before midnight (yes, it was a Tuesday night, and we had to wait another 50 minutes after Horsell Common had finished playing). While I thought that they were good, they certainly didn't meet my expectations, and I think that in general, it seemed like they were just "going through the motions". There was no real "wow" factor to it, and as far as a "performance" went, it was a little lacklustre I thought. It must be said however that The Ataris do have some awesome songs. If you've heard the band before, you're probably aware that most of them are about either summers, girls, lost loves, broken hearts, diaries and sometimes all of the above. But, they are awesome songs. So, that was a treat at least to hear these songs live - and the live production was pretty darn fine as well. Their set covered from the start of their career right up until recently - although I did think it odd that they didn't play more from "So Long, Astoria". Highlights of the show were "In This Diary" and "Your Boyfriend Sucks". Probably saddest part of the gig was towards the end when this guy got up on stage, The Ataris were pretty cool with it, let him sing a song with them, take photos, etc, etc, but then he kinda "didn't take the cue to leave". It was a little bit embarrassing to watch actually, and then he had a bit of a thing with the security guy, yep, wasn't the best really. Anyways, it was a good show - not a great one. Maybe my expectations were a little high, but then again, it's a rare thing when a live band doesn't exceed my expectations, so... maybe not. |