“It’s just been one of those tours,” said Mike Davenport, bassist for the pop-punk band The Ataris.
On the first night of the tour supporting their new album, End Is Forever (Kung Fu), The Ataris’ RV became a casualty in a ten-car collision in Texas. Later in the tour, they drove through a tornado. Despite these setbacks, The Ataris concluded their incident-ridden, sold-out tour with Lagwagon by playing Boston proper for the first time last Sunday at Axis.
From Kenmore Square all the way down Lansdowne, kids clad in hooded sweatshirts and other assorted Ataris gear stopped similar-looking passersby in search of extra tickets. The line of punk-hungry ticket-holders stretched from the doors of Axis down to Jillian’s at the end of the block. A group of people held a makeshift cardboard sign that read, “I Need a Ticket,” while another scrounged the line, offering $40 and the clothes off his back in exchange for a $13 dollar ticket. Nobody took him up on the offer.
The scene inside reflected the chaos outside, with so many people lined up at The Ataris’ merchandise booth, nobody could move around them to get to the floor in front of the stage.
Deminer, a trio from Chicago, took the stage before The Ataris, revving up the audience for the performance to follow. During the set change, fans screamed greetings to Kris Roe, The Ataris’ singer and guitarist, and Chris Knapp, the band’s drummer, who smiled and waved to fans as they prepared to take the stage.
Dubbed by Davenport as “the Skid Row of punk rock,” with their catchy melodies and solid songwriting, the Santa Barbara-based band played an energy-filled set featuring songs from all five of their releases.
“We want to have fun,” said a smiling Davenport. “On our records we write good songs and great melodies that borderline Emo sometimes, but when we play live, it’s a rock show. We want everyone to have fun.”
The Ataris appeared to have fun on stage as Davenport, Roe and guitarist Marco Pena ran around the stage, leaning over it at times in order to play closer to the crowd, while the receptive audience sang and bounced along to every song.
The band played their song, “The Radio Still Sucks,” which clocks in at under 30 seconds, twice. Non-Atari fans may have recognized the song from a recent IMac commercial.
“It sounds like a jingle like somebody made it up because nobody, unless you’re an Ataris fan, knows,” Davenport said. “It’s sort of our inside joke. Ataris fans know who it is but anybody else is going to think it’s some made-up jingle. When I see it sometimes, it could be like The Meaty Cheesy Boys or something like that. And the fact that we’re called The Ataris makes it even more made-up.”
The band also played their song, “Your Boyfriend Sucks,” entreating the audience to make it a sing-a-long. “You’re better off without him, don’t call him,” began Roe before the audience took over, shouting back, “He’s breaking your heart,” to complete the opening line of the song.
“You guys are great,” said an appreciative Roe after the conclusion of the song.
The band even brought out their roadie, known better as Aussie Paul, to do an impression of the Crocodile Hunter, which the audience seemed to find rather amusing.
The band ended the solid set with their underground hit, “San Dimas High School Football Rules,” bringing two audience members onstage to play guitar, while Roe jumped into the crowd with his microphone to sing with the fans in a fitting finale to the adrenaline-filled show. The Ataris will continue touring on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour.
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