The Ataris

November 18, 2002
Valentine's - Albany, NY

The story of the Ataris reads like a Rock & Roll fairy tale:
A young kid from the mid-west gives a demo to his favorite musician and gets a record deal! - But that is how it really happened. Some guys have all the luck!

The Ataris are a four piece pop-punk band signed to Kung Fu records, which was founded by the members of the Vandals. Their music is fun to listen to with good hooks and melodies, and a lot of energy. They were touring in support of their upcoming release "So Long Astoria" which is due out in early 2003.

Derek LaVine, my friend, neighbor, and guy who types the interviews, is a big fan of this band and turned me on to them. I had heard a few of their songs before but not that many. I asked him what bands he wanted to see and/or meet and the first thing out of his mouth was: "The Atartis."
So, I looked it up and they were on tour and coming to Valentine's in Albany. The show was the following week so I told Derek to take that night off from work. A week later we were on our way to a sold out show with no tickets.
We got to the show, found the Ataris' road manager and introduced ourselves. He was a really nice guy! He set me and Derek up with passes and an interview with Mike Davenport, the bass player. So, we ended up on the bus, chilling with Mike and his girlfriend, and the rest of the band. We did the interview and it came out really well.

The show itself was a lot of fun and the crowd was really into it. In fact they were so into it that I got nervous a little because the event was held on the second floor of Valentine's and as the crowd jumped you could feel the floor bend. It felt like it was about to give way and let us all fall through to the first floor. Luckily, that did not happen and a great time was had by all, especially Derek who got to meet one of his favorite bands.