The Ataris at Kilburn Luminaire
Reviewed on May 6, 2006 by cathyreay
A fast receeding hairline is never a good look for a 20-something rocker..
No-one quite understands what’s going on tonight. The Ataris, an American rock septet that have previously sold out shows at London’s 2000 capacity Astoria before even setting foot in the country, are about to hit the tiny stage at the Luminaire – a stage that, generally speaking, is stomping ground for the sleepiest alt rock and country artists. But more to the point, the Luminaire doesn’t even hold 200 bodies let alone 2000 – and this show is far from being sold out.
Perhaps the fact can be explained in that the band haven’t released any material since ‘So Long Astoria’ (how ironic), their very successful seventh studio album of 2003. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that only diehard fans remain tonight – the entire audience is one big mass of black hoodies with the words THE ATARIS/THE ATARIS ROCK/SO LONG ASTORIA scrawled across them.
Not due on until 9.30, plenty of time was left open for the audience to warm up to Keith, a new cookie-cutter fourpiece from Manchester. It’s quickly apparent, after the dazed, young boys hit the stage, that genericism isn’t their forte. Their music is a muddled mesh of indie flavoured mellow electronica-tinged rock, synthesized by flinching keyboard effects. Bizarre and altogether not very appealing. Although the singer showcased an excellent vocal range, his performance was dubbed over by poor guitar work from a frankly incredibly annoying guitarist – must you close your eyes and leave your mouth gaping wide open through the entire 40 minutes of your presence? (I wasn’t alone in this question, just so you know). The set was also let down by the endless blabbering the singer did between songs, which, although I’m sure it wasn’t intended this way, came across as a barrage of unwelcome insults – “you all look tired tonight” “why don’t you sing, jump, dance, clap to us?”.. etc. I understand that the band were put off by their less than toasty reception, but have some pride boys. Instructing us to like you simply will not work. And it didn’t.
So after The Ataris’s less than average performance at Give It A Name (vocalist Kris Roe simply looked and acted like he’d suddenly aged 20 years, and was not the energetic give-it-his-all self that we remember), and given that the band’s only remaining true fans were about to witness this, there was a lot of pressure put on these seven guys tonight, to win this crowd over and ultimately start rebuilding the fame they lost three years ago. Making an appearance thirty minutes late wasn’t a good start, but we quickly forgave them. Within five minutes The Ataris had regained every ounce of respect I ever had for them and more. Out of all the performances I witnessed last week, this was by far the most passionate and involving. Although disappointing that they failed to play ‘Boys Of Summer’, my favourite of their past hits, the band did encore with ‘So Long Astoria’ (which sent fans into an uproar, people clinging to the singer’s shirt and roaring the words into his face). Their new material from ‘Welcome To The Night’, est. July 2006, sounded amazing – the punksters we all know and love returning with a slightly maturer depth to their sound, party due to their complex lyrics and partly because the cello and third guitar were both more evident. Roe introduced one of his final songs by saying that he and his wife of 6 years had just parted ways – sometimes it takes a tragedy to create something beautiful. And this night is just the beginning of the beauty in his breakdown.
Gig Information
| Venue: | Kilburn Luminaire |
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| Date: | May 2nd, 2006 |
Support Acts:
Keith
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| Viewed: | 1150 times |
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