The boys of summer
"On this coldest of January nights..."
This is the opening line of "Takeoffs and Landings", a song by The Ataris which was released in 2003. I find it quite wonderful then that their first gig in Manila was indeed held on a chilly night in January. The Ataris is a rather old band and they've been inactive for a while but they have got seriously loyal fans. The audience clearly enjoyed themselves. EVERYONE was singing along. They have been admirers of this band for years and they're just totally psyched that they get to listen to their favorite songs live. "Anthems of high school", they called it.
Well, I was listening to a different kind of music when I was in high school and I didn't appreciate The Ataris until about three years ago. A friend gave me 'San Dimas High School Football Rules' to hear. I thought it was good, very familiar, very 90s. I got my hands on a couple of outher songs and what I really liked was 'The Hero Dies In This One". Kris Roe is an amazing musician. He's written great lyrics and great tunes to go with them.
The concert was held at The Venice Piazza on McKinley Hill. The band played all the best ones and they sincerely appreciated that the audience knew the words to their songs. Kris said that it means a lot to him to see people who love his music from the other side of the world. If I were him, I'd be pretty amazed to. It's good to be around authentic admirers. It got rowdy at some point when some people started moshing. The guards broke them up. Oh well, boys will be boys.
The band has a thank-you Manila poster up on their Facebook page. If you look closely, you'll find my beaming face. Yup, I was really happy to be there.
This is the opening line of "Takeoffs and Landings", a song by The Ataris which was released in 2003. I find it quite wonderful then that their first gig in Manila was indeed held on a chilly night in January. The Ataris is a rather old band and they've been inactive for a while but they have got seriously loyal fans. The audience clearly enjoyed themselves. EVERYONE was singing along. They have been admirers of this band for years and they're just totally psyched that they get to listen to their favorite songs live. "Anthems of high school", they called it.
Well, I was listening to a different kind of music when I was in high school and I didn't appreciate The Ataris until about three years ago. A friend gave me 'San Dimas High School Football Rules' to hear. I thought it was good, very familiar, very 90s. I got my hands on a couple of outher songs and what I really liked was 'The Hero Dies In This One". Kris Roe is an amazing musician. He's written great lyrics and great tunes to go with them.
The concert was held at The Venice Piazza on McKinley Hill. The band played all the best ones and they sincerely appreciated that the audience knew the words to their songs. Kris said that it means a lot to him to see people who love his music from the other side of the world. If I were him, I'd be pretty amazed to. It's good to be around authentic admirers. It got rowdy at some point when some people started moshing. The guards broke them up. Oh well, boys will be boys.
The band has a thank-you Manila poster up on their Facebook page. If you look closely, you'll find my beaming face. Yup, I was really happy to be there.