While the biggest shows in Nashville tonight are probably David Allen Coe at Marathon Music Works and Rusko at Cannery Ballroom, neither of those are peaking my interest enough to write about them… for whatever reason. My pick for tonight in Nashville would be turn of the millenium pop punksters The Ataris with Mom & Dad and Stuck Lucky at The End. Do any of the youngsters reading this even know what an Atari is?… fast forward one hour… Dammit, I got stuck playing free Atari games while looking for this link.
The Ataris formed back in 1995 with some bedroom recordings, and finally found some widespread acclaim with the release of Blue Skies, Broken Hearts… Next 12 Exits in 1999. It’s been 13 years of musicians coming and going from this band, but founder Kris Roe stays the course. For me, The Ataris dropped back into obscurity until they released that cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” on their 2003 release So Long, Astoria. A couple more obscure (to me anyway) releases followed, and now they are out touring in anticipation of a forthcoming record.
I battle with a band like The Ataris because I enjoy their talent and drive, but I sometimes feel they are fighting too hard to repeat the mainstream success of So Long, Astoria. Regardless of the fact that I may come home tonight feeling like I just saw the band that lost to Jimmy Eat World and Green Day, I’m interested enough for the price to check this out. It’ll also feel fitting to hear “Boys of Summer” in the middle of this February heatwave.
Another bonus for this show is another opportunity to see local youngsters, Mom & Dad open things up along with local ska rockers Stuck Lucky. Tickets are a mere $10 (or $8 in advance), and things get started around 9pm.
I’ve attached some players below for both The Ataris and Mom & Dad below. (note: you need a flash enabled device for The Ataris).
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