Fans Report In: The Ataris [Archive]

Jason Tate

12/10/05, 01:28 AM

Eamonkid (http://www.absolutepunk.net/member.php?u=48932) has written in to us about his experience at one of the Kris/John (Ataris) acoustic shows.
Tonight I went to see Kris and John of The Ataris on their semi-exclusive acoustic tour in Allentown PA at The Sterling Hotel. Four local bands played first all of which were pretty good, Overlook, Nine After Nine, Stimulis and Ritter. Kris got there for the last opening band. John was a little late so they played somewhat of a long set. The room was not full at all maybe 100 people crunched up on the front of the stage of a decently sized venue. They played over 20 songs in their set playing well past 12:30am. For about the first 15 songs or so they were playing a new song then an old song thing. Then Kris turned to John and said, "hey, lets play san dimas" So they played San Dimas High School.... And they rocked it out. Then they played almost anything the crowd would ask, including a Pedro the Lion cover and Paramedic which he had a tough time remembering the lyrics, he said he hadn't play it in over 2 years. After a drunk guy kept yelling "bitch bitch bitch" Kris played it for him. They ended with a new song, then came back on and played a crowd raising "In This Diary". During one of the new song entitled "Last Call" Kris talked about how this song was about how he almost overdoed on PCP and almost died in Berlin Germany. All in all I goto shows weekly and this was the best show I've been to in a long time. Kris and John gave it their all and everyone loved them for it.

xearlynovemberx

12/10/05, 01:29 AM

holy shit he almost died
thats intense

upherskirt

12/10/05, 01:39 AM

i wish i cudve seen them play over 20 songs till 1230 :(

crit

12/10/05, 01:56 AM

I get to see them twice next week. Monday and Tuesday. I'm so excited.

lovenotwar_rx

12/10/05, 01:59 AM

I'm so jealous. :(

ActorInThisPlay

12/10/05, 02:02 AM

holy shit he almost died
thats intense
well he shouldn't have done PCP then...duh

anyway I love The Ataris and it sounds like it was a great show. Can't wait for their new CD to drop.

irthesteve

12/10/05, 02:12 AM

acoustic ataris till 1230 would be awesome

romantic rights

12/10/05, 03:00 AM

After a drunk guy kept yelling "bitch bitch bitch" Kris played it for him.

bitch bitch bitch is called "Hey Kid" thank you very much.... the last acoustic tour Kris did he couldnt remember the words to so many songs (up up down down left right left right b a start, hey kid, angry nerd rock... etc.) but he was still amazing. Oh and when i saw him some kid yelled "play boys of summer" and kris just said to him "fuck you"

DeathCabForCoon

12/10/05, 05:41 AM

Wow, I cannot wait to see them next week.

thewebguy

12/10/05, 06:07 AM

girl, i am hiiigh on p c p!

ParisInFlames55

12/10/05, 06:29 AM

i am driving an hour and a half to see these guys tomorrow. thank you for letting me know it will be worth it. i am so pissed i missed this allentown show. we we're afarid the roads would be ice on the hour drive back and we could crash. well this just sucks.

EamonKid

12/10/05, 06:55 AM

I've been to alot of shows in my day, as all of us have but, this totally was so amazing. Just seeing Kris Roe that close and personal, literally was something I will never forget. I hope all of you going get to have the same experience as me.

djUbilla

12/10/05, 07:08 AM

bitch bitch bitch is called "Hey Kid" thank you very much.... the last acoustic tour Kris did he couldnt remember the words to so many songs (up up down down left right left right b a start, hey kid, angry nerd rock... etc.) but he was still amazing. Oh and when i saw him some kid yelled "play boys of summer" and kris just said to him "fuck you"That makes me so happy.

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 07:54 AM

Yeah, the song "From the Last Last Call" references his PCP near-overdose on a train. The bridge goes like this:

Will you forgive me when I'm found dead on this train
On the outskirts of Berlin?
Doubled up on angel dust and crying on my knees
For some God to come and save this lifeless soul within
And my ghost will write these words as you cry yourself to sleep.

predwhit77

12/10/05, 07:55 AM

http://www.teamforfelix.com/flyers/finalflyer.jpg
Plenty of the tickets will be available at the door!

fallingapart101

12/10/05, 07:57 AM

I was there and when he played Hey Kid He only sang the chorus, but he would sing other songs like Bush man he made fun of them. He did it becuase he was like there are so many songs with chord progression. One the new songs was intesting though, he said this song is about my ex-father-in-law and how he was doing wrong things and he was in a cult. The song is called Secret Handshakes, and the end goes like, how can live with your self when your father killed your first born child. It was intense, the new stuff lyrical is very emothional and intense. I know it sounds different, but this c.d. will be huge. He also ended the night with In This Diary and everyone yelled the lyrics, he was going to play more but said that was beautiful and we will end the night like that.

Burnout2888

12/10/05, 08:02 AM

We only got like 10 songs at St. Louis =/

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 08:14 AM

We only got like 10 songs at St. Louis =/

Yes, because that show was a logistical fiasco. There were two shows scheduled that night - 5:30 and 8. The doors for the early show (Kris) were supposed to open at 5, but ended up opening at around 5:35, I think the music started at 5:45. The first band played a short set but then the second band played like seven songs. By the time Kris and John got onstage, it was 7:15 and they needed to be done by 8.

Hopefully when they come back the Creepy Crawl will only book one show for that night.

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 08:25 AM

And about "Secret Handshakes"...

In St. Louis, Kris introduced it as "the product of having a father-in-law for a while who was into some really weird shit. He was a Free Mason; I'm sorry if any of you are Free Masons, but I expose some of your secrets in this song. Please don't burn my house down again....notice I said again."

From what I can gather it seems to reference the fire Kris touched on in "Fast Times at...." as well as referenced the Free Mason practice of killing the first born. The bridge is: "Does it ever even phase you that your father's involvement with the cult nearly killed your first born child?"

"San Dimas" this record is not.

juan_believes

12/10/05, 08:39 AM

hey kid is an awesome song, one of my first ataris songs i ever heard, and one of my favorites

grnweenieag

12/10/05, 08:43 AM

this show is almost exactly like the one they did in springfield except it was in a skate shop in september and there were only about 20 people there. freakin' awesome. oh...and he played by himself. He was late and played forever.

poppa Q

12/10/05, 09:04 AM

I've heard nothing but positive remarks for these shows. I like that.

baton

12/10/05, 09:12 AM

wow, that had to be great show, i wish i could spend night like that :)

NoseOverTail

12/10/05, 09:45 AM

Seriously, this show was incredible. One of the top five performances I've ever seen.

ilovebsb

12/10/05, 10:14 AM

does any one know if kris is playing in mass?

3milesdown

12/10/05, 10:21 AM

i hope he plays looking back on today

i kept requesting it the last time they played here, adn he was like ehhh no.

SVBrightEye

12/10/05, 10:26 AM

I was there, it was indeed the best show ever.

romantic rights

12/10/05, 10:31 AM

i hope he plays looking back on today

i kept requesting it the last time they played here, adn he was like ehhh no.

when I saw him he said he was most likely not going to play any of the happier songs from the last album (looking back on today)... most likely because they are just reminders of better times.

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 10:45 AM

i hope he plays looking back on today

i kept requesting it the last time they played here, adn he was like ehhh no.

Stop requesting it; he'll never play it again. Never.

johnarc

12/10/05, 10:45 AM

wow. while all this was happening, I was at college seeing belegost and getting teary eyed from their awesome power.

all my friends from back home were at this. I'm glad it was good.

zach26

12/10/05, 10:55 AM

Stop requesting it; he'll never play it again. Never.

yeah, that was the general feel of our show too.

again i'll say, poor kris.

romantic rights

12/10/05, 11:02 AM

Stop requesting it; he'll never play it again. Never.

pretty much. its sad, but true.

j.maziarski

12/10/05, 11:15 AM

I was there. Very cool show.

3milesdown

12/10/05, 11:19 AM

he also said he'd never play hey kid.......

and he said he'd never play teenage riot.....

theress till hope!

FASSWcore

12/10/05, 11:25 AM

sounds like a good time...hahaha, the review included the word "overdoed"...wow

CorporateFish

12/10/05, 11:49 AM

My god I wish I could see one of these shows..

minusthejosh

12/10/05, 12:18 PM

he also said he'd never play hey kid.......

and he said he'd never play teenage riot.....

theress till hope!

there is no hope in playing looking back on today again, just listen to the words of the song and put two and two together.

The Revisionist

12/10/05, 12:38 PM

he also said he'd never play hey kid.......

and he said he'd never play teenage riot.....

theress till hope!He and the subject of the song are divorced... so I think you're shit out of luck.

AFSjulian

12/10/05, 12:49 PM

I booked the Cleveland date of this show and I have to agree with everyone above me in saying that it was a great performance. They actually played quite a few old songs ... "Unopened Letter to the World" being the one that stuck out, but no hits really. The new songs sounded great though.

I spoke to both Kris and John in length afterwards and told them that I wasn't really a fan of their older stuff and they said "Cool. Neither were we." I think everyone just needs to realize that Kris is almost thirty and has been through a lot and that John is 34. They can't be making music for kids to jump around to anymore. It wouldn't be realistic. In their minds, this is a natural progression. I, for one, love it.

drivethru770

12/10/05, 12:55 PM

This post sounds very similar to the show that I played with The Ataris the other day. They were late because they got lost, but played for a long time. I was really surprised they played "My Hotel Year" about the third or fourth song in, without request. They took requests later. They were phenomenal. The new music really makes sense. It's the only direction they could have logically moved toward. You can't play pop-punk forever when things happen to you like what has happened to Kris. They were very genuine and I was honored and felt somewhat unworthy to play the show with them. Oh, they have cool guitar effects for playing acoustic, as well. It sounded great.

wastedspacejm

12/10/05, 01:08 PM

He and the subject of the song are divorced... so I think you're shit out of luck.
but the subject of that song and the subject of "San Dimas..." are the same person. He played San Dimas at the Cincinnati/Covington show and simply changed some of the words..."don't you understand each word I said was true / I just wanted you to know that I was so in love with you."

The show in Cinci was the first time I'd seen them live (and I've been a fan since "Blue Skies...") and it was definitely one of the best shows I'd been to, definitely the best acoustic show, hands down.
They played (not in order, but this is what I can remember): The Hero Dies in This One, IOU One Galaxy, So Long Astoria, San Dimas High School Football Rules, Unopened Letter to the World, My Hotel Year, Road Signs and Rock Songs, a few more old ones that I'm sure I'm forgetting, and probably 4-5 from the new album, as well as some covers.

romantic rights

12/10/05, 01:13 PM

but the subject of that song and the subject of "San Dimas..." are the same person. He played San Dimas at the Cincinnati/Covington show and simply changed some of the words..."don't you understand each word I said was true / I just wanted you to know that I was so in love with you."

wrong.

San Dimas... "...Whitney, don't you understand that what I say is true?..."

Looking Back... "...Denise come over to my house, cuz you're the one for me..."

different girl.

3milesdown

12/10/05, 01:35 PM

quitmyscene

12/10/05, 01:51 PM

does any one know if kris is playing in mass?
yeah, tuesday. club lido in revere.

crit

12/10/05, 02:43 PM

does any one know if kris is playing in mass?
yeah. tuesday in revere.
and in plaistow, nh which close to mass.

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 02:45 PM

everytime he plays san dimas live, he says denice instead of whitney. and he officially changed the name is denice in the acoustic verison from the let it burn split.

don't say theres no way he's going to play looking back on today because he hates it. i talked to him after a show back then and he said he hates pretty much all their old songs, but he plays them for the fans. the day that he said he was gonna retire teenage riot, he also played it at their next show. looking back on today could fairly be any other song they play at every show such as summer wind, iou, road signs, your bf sucks, or i wont spend anotehr night alone. these songs are all about denice, the same girl.

He met Denise after Blue Skies was released, so your logic there is a bit shaky. Anyways, there's a new song called "When All Else Fails, It Fails" which is about their split. "When all else fails, it fails. Did I fail you? Well you failed me too. I guess it's too late for a family now."

Kris will play songs to please his fans, but he's not going to pull out a song that's obviously too personal and irrelevant to his current situation and thought. So stop requesting it, he's not going to do it.

j.maziarski

12/10/05, 02:58 PM

RockVocalPower

12/10/05, 03:15 PM

He changes the words in songs pertaining to Denise, like "Would you be my best friend if I offered you my heart? It's no longer yours." It's kind of hard to change a song like "Looking Back on Today" and having it not sound happy.

dukeboy1986

12/10/05, 09:29 PM

Sweet, I will hopefully be going to the Charlote show on the 16th! Woot!

natedogg007

12/10/05, 11:18 PM

all i have to say is that the ataris are just amazing live. i would have to agree with the person above me that he will not play looking back on today because if you listen to the lyrics in when all else fails, it fails kris explains his thoughts on about it. playing looking back on today will just contradict himself with his new album.

RockVocalPower

12/11/05, 09:26 AM

Let's set the scene: Kris just finishes playing "When All Else Fails, It Fails"

Some kid: Looking Back on Today!
Kris: *laughs* Nope, sorry bud. As much as I would love to play it for *you*, we'll just have this moment as our own and realize that there's some irony there.

I've seen it happen twice.