I'm kind of amazed at this particular turn of events. After all, I literally heard an Ataris song on 102.1 The X last night! And yet it's true--The Ataris are coming to Richmond next week, and instead of playing some huge arena, they'll be taking the stage at intimate local venue The Camel. Which is, of course, awesome. Who ever thought that in the year 2012, you'd get a chance to see The Ataris play a club gig? Fortunately, thanks to the valiant efforts of show booker extraordinaire Alex Wilhelm (he who brought RVA the legendary Stay Sweet Fest), it's happening, so everybody should be getting stoked starting right now! The Ataris, led by founder and chief songwriter Kristopher Roe, will be hitting Richmond as part of the Paper And Plastered tour along with Flatfoot 56 and Red City Radio, who are labelmates with the Ataris on Florida's Paper & Plastick Records.
While, sadly, there is still no sign of the Ataris' long-delayed sixth LP, The Graveyard Of The Atlantic, they do have an exclusive tour CD for sale on these dates, which includes a live set; the tracks from their 2010 vinyl-only EP, also entitled "Graveyard Of The Atlantic;" and Hang Your Head In Hope, a 14 track Kristopher Roe acoustic LP released digitally last year on The Ataris' bandcamp page. The CD includes 23 songs in all, so it's a really great deal! And for that matter, so is the price of admission to The Camel next Wednesday. Not only do you get a full-band headlining set from The Ataris, plus tourmates Flatfoot 56 and Red City Radio, RVA's homegrown pop-punk heroes Hold Tight are starting the night off right! It'll be a blast from beginning to end, so make sure you don't miss this rare opportunity to catch The Ataris as they rock RVA!
WHAT: The Paper And Plastered Tour, Featuring The Ataris, Hits Richmond!
WHO: The Ataris, Flatfoot 56, Red City Radio, Hold Tight
WHERE: The Camel, 1621 W. Broad St
WHEN: Wednesday, October 3, Doors Open at 7 PM
ADMISSION: $10 in advance--tickets available here: theatarisrva.eventbrite.com/$12 at the door
Just in case you aren't already stoked, we're gonna show you a couple of great videos to remind you of how awesome The Ataris are. First, a live acoustic version, recorded on a street corner in Denver, of Kristopher Roe playing "The Graveyard Of The Atlantic," which is every bit as amazing as the older Ataris songs that we all remember from the early 2000s (and makes me wonder why the heck this album has still not been released). Then there's the classic first single from 2003's breakthrough album So Long Astoria, "In This Diary." How many of you still remember the lyrics to this one? Come out next Wednesday night and sing along! You know you want to.