THE ATARIS + KILL HANNAH: HIGHLIGHTS!

It was a dark & stormy night as the wind howled down First Ave. in Seattle.......but well over 500 hip kiddos turned out in force to see Kill Hannah and The Ataris at the Showbox.

DJ No Name from 107.7 THE END(!) got everyone in the party mood by throwing out some free t-shirts.  Kill Hannah stormed on while adoring fans shrieked.  Leadsinger Mat Devine was either prowling and stalking around the stage, Robert Smith-ing into the mic with one foot on the monitor, or jumping off the drum kit.

There were teenage-girl screams the likes of whih I haven't heard since....well.....the My Chemical Romance show.  Actually, normal people can't hear these screams because its so high pitched, but I'm part dog - just look at my pictures.

Devine dedicated "I Love You To Death" to "any of you who waited out in the rain" before manhandling the mic and straddling the space between the stage and the crowd barrier. 

Just before the cool mod synth rock of "I Wanna Be A Kennedy," Devine admitted, "You are a very cool and very polite audience....you're not making fun of my hair.  I didn't expect this much humidity.  We're gonna make it work though!"

After their set, fans flocked in droves to the Kill Hannah merch stand where the band members were hanging out to sign stuff.  Let this be a lesson to all bands - stick around to sell & sign merch after the show......your bottom-line will thank you!

Next came The Ataris.  Kris Roe announced "Secret Handshake" by saying, "This one's aobut the hypocracies of cerrtain religions" and the song devolved into fuzz and effects with Roe on his knees tinkering with pedals. 

Roe was also gracious to the crowd for "braving the wind and rain and all those other great elements." 

He changed guitars a couple of times during the set, perhaps from breaking a string, but this is common attrition from rocking up to ELEVEN.  There were also many crisp flurries of 8th note bass lines, sometimes serving as counterpoint to the lead guitar riffs and always undergirding the electric guitar wall of sound. 

At the end of their set, The Ataris left their instruments still rocking and feeding back on the stage - a digital syrup of noise spilling out over the crowd until the band came back for an encore.  They seemed to return with double the energy, as Roe substituted his guitar for a mic and a red plastic cup. 

Afterwards, both Kill Hannah and The Ataris hung out for about half an hour with their doting fans, signing autographs and snapping photos before the Showbox had to shut its doors.

Thanks to everyone who showed up for this last show in the Flash Concerts 06 series!  Thanks to all the fans who came to the other shows!  And a super double thanks for everyone who came together to put all these shows on!  Seattle was really a great ending to an amazing musical adventure - one that I'm sure none of us will soon forget!  I know I won't. 

Peace out & look out for more of these shows comin atcha in 2007!

- HOWIE