Atari Teenage Riot at DC’s 9:30

9:30 Club in Washington, DC
9.17.2011

At times, the silence was deadly… hardly the environment for the politically charged digital-hardcore pioneer, Atari Teenage Riot. Presently touring North America in support of Is This Hyperreal?, the members of ATR still have something to say, even with the ever-changing tide of political and social frustration over the last decade. One would have expected that more of the politically saturated DC residents would have shown a bit more support.

It’s been about a year since their last stop in the greater DC area (Baltimore), and this time in a much bigger venue than the prior, ATR had no problem performing in a manner fit for stadiums. A remix of Black Flags rang out above the sound of the crowd, and even above that of the intermission music, indicating the time was finally approaching for one of my favorite groups from my high school days to once again remind me of why I continue to follow them. The crowd, though sparse, welcomed ATR to the stage, and the chaos began to unleash itself.

The trio consisting of Alec Empire, Nic Endo, and CX KiDTRONiK mesh well together, each taking turns in their appropriate places, switching between manning the computers and taking their vocals out to the forefront of the stage. Between shouting out songs both new and old, and giving the brief political rant here and there, ATR demonstrated they still have the same energy they had back in the days when riots assembled at their performances in Germany… unfortunate for ATR however, the crowd was less than enthusiastic here in the nation’s capitol. A couple instances drew the attention of Empire to check if we were even still there… and not in a hip-hop “lemme hear you…” kind of way, but a legitimate ‘let me know you have a pulse‘ kind of way. While I think everyone in attendance was fully satisfied with the performance taking place, the quiet between songs was almost that of being able to hear a pin drop.

As mentioned before, seeing ATR live just reminds me why I continue to listen to and follow them even today. They seem to be the rare exception to my disgust for artists who get involved politically. Hearing the old favorites, like Speed, Into The Death, and Sick To Death recall fond memories of when Atari Teenage Riot was just a band that would probably never make their way anywhere near where I would be living. “Is This Hyperreal?”, “Shadow Identity”, and “Digital Decay” create new memories from experiences of something I thought never possible. Given the ever increasing displeasure of social and political issues around the world, something tells me that ATR will be around for awhile, and for that I am grateful. So while the appreciation from the sparsely spotted crowd may have given off the false appearance of apathy towards the band, they can take comfort in knowing that true fans… the original followers from over a decade ago (which seemed to make up a large portion of the crowd), were there for the experience. ATR in DC was an experience that many of us have been waiting for, for quite some time.

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