Adelaide took a step down memory lane on Thursday night at Fowler’s Live. The Ataris, the early 2000s punk rock band that you could take home to mum were back in town for the first time in many years. Being there conjured memories of the glory days of punk in Adelaide when every pub had a punk show each week and people actually went to festivals like Warped Tour and Loudmouth. A time when bands like Millencolin, MXPX, The Ataris, Pennywise and Lagwagon toured here regularly.
Times have changed, as they inevitably do. But it’s a testament to Ataris front man Kris Roe that he still takes the time to include Adelaide on the tour schedule. It would seem he’s still the hardest working guy in punk rock. When I entered the venue at 7:01 on Thursday night, Kris had already set up shop behind the merch desk and was busy chatting to fans and shaking their hands.
About a half an hour later, local hardcore act Dead Joe took the stage for a thin but enthusiastic crowd. They displayed no lack of experience or talent. Energetic if not melodic, their blend of punk, screamo and metal would satisfy anyone in search of a hard, loud and angry sound. Three piece only, there was certainly a degree of polish behind the drum kit and the guitars worked well off of each other.
Columbus, a three piece pop punk getup from Brisbane filled the middle slot with authority. Sounding much like the angst ridden lovechild of the Dropkick Murphys and New Found Glory, they managed to slowly pull the crowd in from around the bar. Once again, plenty of energy and sufficient mastery of the instruments. Vocalist Alex Moses has the quintessential punk rock voice which reminded me at times of Joey Cape and even glam punk acts like The New York Dolls. No doubt we’ll hear more from these three.
So it was over to Kris and crew to finish the night off in true punk rock style. In talking to Kris before the show, I’d learnt that he had come down with a case of bronchitis the day before. But having little to no voice wasn’t about to stop him from playing for the people who coughed up their hard earned to see a rock show. So punk.
The minute they kicked off with “In This Diary”, I was immediately transported back to 2002. Oddly enough, it wasn’t Kris’ voice that took me back. It was bassist Mike Davenport, who’d re-joined the band for this tour. I remember watching him command the stage at the Adelaide Uni Bar 14 years ago. At age 47, the guy has lost none of his enthusiasm and his presence in an ever changing Ataris tour line up really made it feel like the good old days.
Disappointingly, whilst the show was touted as a Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits and So Long Astoria showcase, the majority of their set list was from the Astoria album. “San Dimas High School Football Rules” was a highlight and when they broke into “I Won’t Spend Another Night Alone” for the encore, a mini circle-pit even emerged.
The middle aged punk rockers in the crowd appreciated every note of their set. Did we manage to recapture the glory of our days playing dive bars for crowds of 10? No. But we sure reminisced about it and our heartfelt thanks goes out to Kris and The Ataris for enabling us to do so without compromising our weekday cover up identities as well dressed professionals.
For a one-time dickies wearing anti-authoritarian like me, this show really felt like coming home.
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