The Ataris play Higher Ground
Band revives pop-punk for at least one more night

Annie Gleba l contributing writer

Pop-punk is not dead, as illustrated at the Ataris concert at Higher Ground on Sunday, Feb. 25. The concert was held in the venue’s Showcase Lounge and still wasn’t full, but for those who enjoy studded belts, black eyeliner, and mohawks, the evening still proved to be entertaining as the Ataris introduced their new and improved sound to the crowd.

The two opening bands, Wax On Radio and Asobi Seksu, were unique in their respective sounds and had nothing in common with the Ataris or each other. Wax On Radio is a group of grungy guys with guitars, and their sound was just that — noise. There were some songs that had a vague resemblance of a melody, but mostly it was just the boys banging their guitars and screaming. In theory it sounds like a good idea, and often times is a good idea in practice, but not in Wax On Radio’s case.

Asobi Seksu’s lead singer was a Japanese girl whose voice sounded eerily pretty over the techno-trance music that her band backed her with. The Japanese lyrics fit into the overall vibe of the band and even the most hardcore looking guy in the room looked like he was enjoying its set. However, the audience was clearly waiting for one thing—that old pop-punk band they love finally coming back to the stage after almost three years.

The Ataris played a good amount of both old and new songs. Their new album Welcome the Night has a different and more mature sound than the band’s previous albums. It seems that these boys of summer have finally grown up; focusing their lyrics less on the times they hung out with their friends in parking lots drinking Cherry Cokes, focusing more on darker and deeper emotional themes. The sound is also more mature, sounding regrettably more pop-ish than punkish, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

One of the high points of the evening was when the band played one of their most popular songs, “In This Diary.” As soon as the opening chords of the song rung throughout the lounge, the crowd began jumping up and down, shaking their fists, and screaming out the words to the song they all knew and loved so well. “Unopened Letter to the World” also brought out the pure punk teenager feeling The Ataris have become so adept at creating with their music.

Kristopher Roe, The Ataris’ front man, was just as rowdy as the energetic Higher Ground crowd. He made multiple shout outs to others who were drinking, and dedicated a song to one of the bartenders. However obnoxious as this may sound, he was a pretty personable guy and had nothing but good things to say about the venue, the crowd, and the state of Vermont . Roe went as far as to say that it’s one of the nicest places the band has played.

Throughout their set, the Ataris had a slideshow going on in the background of old pictures/movies that were synchronized to the music. This visualization was something different than I’ve seen at most concerts, but I have to say it was pretty entertaining. Seeing 50s era ballerinas twirling in tutus to the rhythm of “Fast Times at Drop Out High” was something I never really expected to see in my lifetime. I suppose I can now die content.

These visualizations were actually what saved the show from what could have been just an okay concert. Welcome the Night was only released five days before the show and none of the crowd really knew the words or the tunes to most of the new songs. If someone did know all the words, then they were clearly much too excited about this mediocre album.

Without the videos in the background to distract the audience from not knowing the words (or really being able to understand them, as the echo was really bad in the room), the show would have lost a lot of its energy and power. There were dull moments, but it seemed like Roe picked up on these and threw in a joke or mixed up the song selection in order to get the audience’s full attention back.

Although the show lacked in many areas, The Ataris do deserve credit for their stellar encore. Normally there are people who leave the show after the last song, not worrying about the encore. At this show, everyone stood where they were—there was no rustling of early leavers at all, just the unified chant of ‘One more song!’ and shaking fists.

Their last song was the best of the show by far—“San Dimas High School Football Rules.” Roe introduced the song by saying he wrote it when he was 19 and thanked anyone who was over 30 who actually remembered it (with all due respect, Mr. Roe, we’re not that old). The band played the song differently than its original recording (on Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits) , starting off slowly and pausing between verses, building up the excitement for the bridge, when they just went wild. Roe put down his guitar, went to the drum set, and let loose. Members of the crew and other bands were gathering around the stage jumping around and nodding their heads, clearly enjoying the energy just as much as the audience.

All in all, the show provided a strong feeling of community—the people at this show weren’t just people there to see a show, they were there to see The Ataris. The band has lost a lot of popularity since 2003 (I contribute this to their terrible cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”), but the fans at the show were just that—hardcore fans. There was no pushing or shoving, there was no yelling, there were no fights.

Without this crowd, I’m not sure the Ataris would have put on as good a show as they did. It almost seemed like the guys were empowered by the excitement of the fans in the crowd to the point where they didn’t want to disappoint. The mood was good, spirits were high, and all because of the audience’s shared love for screaming men who still wish they were boys.

The Ataris’ set lasted for about an hour and a half, including the breaks Roe took to talk to the audience. While Roe seemed a little bit angry and bitter about a recent divorce (he refused to play a song a fan called out because it was about his ex wife, but then offered to write a love song about said fan instead), he was ecstatic about the new album, which therefore makes us Ataris’ fans excited about it, even if it isn’t about high school.