The Ataris at Dingwalls, London, gig review: Raucous performance from pop punk staples

There are plenty of singalongs to keep fans happy

The Ataris: an energetic performance from these old hands (Tash Greene)

US rockers The Ataris know how to have a good time. Putting on a pop punk extravaganza in Camden, they turn back the clock and deliver a high octane, loud and raucous performance to an enthused crowd that very much mirrors the energy on stage.

Opening with “In This Diary” a mass singalong ensues, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

Kris Roe asks how the crowd are feeling with emotional sincerity before dedicating the next track, an heartfelt rendition of “The Hero Dies In This One”, to his father, who passed away last year.

There’s a sense of self-awareness as he refers to how the Indiana natives have been in the pop punk game for a long time: “I’m turning 40 this year and I’d love to see you all slam to this next one,” he says, as the opening riff to “Your Boyfriend Sucks” echoes around Dingwalls to one of the loudest cheers of the night.

Jawbreaker cover “Boxcar”, “Summer 79” and “Some Notes on Bach and Haydn” all follow as the band dip into their archive despite some slight technical difficulties.

Emo classic “The Saddest Song” sees the nearly 300-strong crowd of twenty-somethings sing along in surprising harmony to a song that they’d clearly kept in mind from their late teens, before one of the biggest tracks of the night, the cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”, sends the band off-stage to chants of one more song.

Happily obliging, an encore consisting of “They Live, We Sleep”, “Eight of Nine” and “So Long, Astoria” sends the Camden crowd home happy following an energetic performance you’d expect from a band who have been a staple of the scene for the past 20 years.

You can follow Vishal Rana on Twitter @VishRana_