Concert Review: The Ataris

No matter how enjoyable Signal Vs. Noise and Icarus The Owl were, the main attraction was The Ataris. They were at Dante's on a tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of So Long, Astoria. The crowd was full of people who were thrilled to be there. It is a pretty good album.

I don't want that to take away from a pretty good overall catalog, including the more recent Welcome to the Night (especially "Whatever Lies Will Help You Rest"). Still, with So Long, Astoria and its own theme of nostalgia, looking back on that is kind of looking back on everything. That made for a strong emotional connection.

The band did a good job of it, and they did that in the face of difficulties. While drummer Dustin Phillips has been working with singer Kris Roe - the driving force behind The Ataris - since 2016, Mike Doherty on guitar and Danny LaFlamme on bass were new this tour. They fit in well and you couldn't tell, unless you had looked at recent pictures of the band and noticed that way.

 

In addition, wildfire smoke and diminished air quality had been exacerbating breathing issues for Roe. He sang through lung inflammation, but at this point the last two dates have been postponed while he recovers from pneumonia. Lots of singers will point at the audience to sing some parts, but this is the first time I remember being thanked for singing along, and he had good reason. (Note: climate change affects everything.)

 

I am happy to say it did not kill their sense of fun. Here Roe and Phillips get some double drums going, not quite Adam Ant style, but it was a nice touch.

I loved LaFlamme's playing style. The speed and dexterity reminded me Daniel Andriano, but with a little bit of Alex Levine magnetism. There were technique things that I don't even know how to describe, but here's the part that was funny for me: on the start of "The Boys of Summer", that blurring of hands suddenly stopped. It was a drastic change. Then I suddenly remembered a friend of mine describing a Don Henley performance on Saturday Night Live of "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" and mentioning the bass player having almost nothing to do, but trying to act like it was more. Apparently Don Henley uses simple bass lines; got it!

Later in the song it switched up again. That could have well been Ataris-specific embellishment, which led to another thought. They use a lot of feedback, but that night I noticed that it can blend pretty well with jangle. It occurred to me then that The Ataris could do a great cover of "Kiss Me". It's not likely, because New Found Glory has already covered that, but I maintain that if The Ataris did, it would sound good.

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