Date: March 30th 2014
Opening Bands: Authority Zero, Drag The River, Gasoline Heart, Donald Spence

The Ataris played Irving Plaza Sunday night with a packed crowd of fans wanting to see the band play So Long Astoria in full (plus some other hits). Authority Zero, Drag The River, Gasoline Heart, Donald Spence also played the show.

The show was originally supposed to be at Gramercy Theatre but was moved when some Broadway about Janis Joplin took up residency there. This stop was the last date on the So Long Astoria reunion shows with former Ataris members John Collura, Mike Davenport and Chris Knapp.

I never really got into The Ataris during their popularity of this album and only saw them live once or twice. I’m a huge fan of Authority Zero though so wanted to see them again and check out The Ataris reunion. Donald Spence of Versus The World opened up the show with some songs from his solo album. Versus The World also features Mike from the Ataris. I liked Versus The World when I saw them play last year but haven’t seen Donald play solo yet. He did his acoustic thing for a few and then Gasoline Heart came on.

The crowd appreciated the bands for the most part but some of the opening acts, I think people were just waiting for Authority Zero and the Ataris to come on. Gasoline Heart had a few tunes I liked and Drag The River I could get into if they played a more Americana type of show instead of a pop punk show. Some of the guys from Authority Zero came out to play a few songs with Drag The River which was cool to see. I liked the songs when the guys from AZ were out there for. I think the crowd got a little sleepy for these guys though. The show was already getting late, for a Sunday so not really surprising.

Authority Zero were up next to last and put on a hell of a show! It was the last day for this tour so they were ready to play, and I guess this was their longest set of the tour. They played around 40-45 minutes and I loved it! They played songs like “No Regrets,” “Struggle,” “Brick in the Wave,” “A Passage in Time” “Revolution,” “Taking on the World,” “Get It Right,” “Courage” and the always entertaining “Rattlin Bog.” “Courage” was a standout since Jason played majority of that by himself and then the band came on towards the end. “Get It Right” and “Struggle” were also ones I absolutely loved hearing. Every time I keep seeing AZ, they keep topping the last performance. Can’t wait to see them again.

The Ataris were up last, and came on stage around 10:45pm, on a Sunday. For some reason, I don’t mind late sets during the week but on a Sunday night, that’s rough for the ones who are employed. Since this was the So Long Astoria reunion tour, the band was playing that album from start to finish. I’d list all the songs but when they play an album, that’s what they played. They were good from what I saw of them and particularly like the “Boys of Summer” cover, which some of guys from Drag The River & Gasoline Heart joined in.

There was some other songs thrown in there too, like a Misfits cover of “Skulls” in the encore. I just saw on the internet that they played that during the encore because I had to leave during the set to film Jason of Authority Zero outside the venue. I was probably going to leave early during their set anyway because it was getting too late…and I still ended up getting home late no thanks to the PATH train. Anyway, the show was pretty good with Authority Zero being a highlight for me. I would have liked to have seen more of The Ataris but getting late and had to film Jason so it is what it is.

Here’s a bunch of photos from the show, be sure to check out SkaPunkPhotos.com for all the photos.

Donald Spence

Gasoline Heart

Drag The River

Authority Zero

The Ataris