Kris Roe (The Fighting Cocks, 11.12.15)



About 50 people showed up at The Fighting Cocks to see Ataris frontman Kris Roe play solo. This UK tour certainly seems to very much be a DIY affair, from selling his own merch to taking the National Express from show to show. I’m interested in the economics of touring solo as a musician or comedian. I suppose if you can get 50 people or more to see you at £12 a pop five or six nights a week for six months a year, it’s a cost effective proposition.

The Ataris produced three albums in their heyday, largely punk influenced affairs about youthful exuberance and being in love. To me this puts the touring solo artist in something of a bind. The fans have come for a night of nostalgia to see you play those songs, but you might find it difficult to engage with your work from more than a decade ago when when you’re pushing 40. The result is a 37 year old man playing a song called “Your Boyfriend Sucks”. But playing it well.

There are a couple of times during the set where Roe hints at these issues. “This song doesn’t mean much to me any more but lots of people always request it” he says before launching into “ IOU One Galaxy”, a charming if rough round the edges romantic number. Some of his other songs have aged better, as demonstrated in a terrific opening rendition of “In This Diary” where those 50 people generate a remarkably loud atmosphere and a touching outing for “The Hero Dies In This One” in tribute to Roe’s father.

Roe possesses’ a terrific gravelly quality or to use a British expression “He gives it some welly”.  As a result, the show frequently commands the attention even during some of the weaker areas of his band’s back catalogue. He seldom deviates from the “nostalgia” remit, the exception being “New Year’s Day” from the most recent Ataris record. I haven’t caught up with it yet, but the song is certainly catchy enough for me to take a look.

In the encore, the somewhat saccharine “The Saddest Song” regarding Roe’s distant relationship with his daughter is elevated by a crowd singalong with the audience proving rather adept at the backing vocals. He ends with “Eight Of Nine”, yelling “You only get so many second chances”. I’ll probably take mine up the next time he returns to these shores.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'll See You In My Dreams

 Today is the first day of the 2024/25 English football season. It will be the first season that begins without my Dad, who died four months ago on 9 th April at the age of 76. My Dad and I have shared football together for as long as I can remember. I fell in love with football largely because of Eric Cantona, who I remember thinking was the coolest man alive. I dimly remember him returning to action after being suspended for his infamous kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan, scoring an equaliser against Liverpool and swinging around the stanchion behind the goal at Old Trafford. All of this subsequently led to me wanting to follow Manchester United. I am surprised in retrospect that this man from Houghton-le-Spring who spent most Saturdays in his youth at Roker Park to watch Sunderland AFC didn’t object more vehemently to this. Perhaps he saw it as a decent excuse to watch higher quality players than he was used to. Dad always wanted to watch good teams playing good football. ...
Read more

February In Film

  The Fabelmans The film follows Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), a young aspiring filmmaker dedicated to his craft who must negotiate the challenges posed by familial strife. Any resemblance to a real director is I presume entirely coincidental. One of my issues with the family early on is that they’re almost insufferably twee and not a great deal of interest seems to happen. The film’s central familial conflict feels somewhat implausible and is centred around Sammy’s mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams). I have enjoyed Williams’ work in the past but found her overwrought, hysterical performance here rather offputting.   Thank goodness then that Uncle Boris (Hirsch) arrives to drop a grenade into proceedings, explaining his own history with film and the arts and underlining Sammy’s forthcoming dilemma. He decides to get to work on his highest scale production to date, a war epic. These are the most joyous shots in the movie, teeming with invention especially in the deploym...
Read more

June In Film

  The Little Mermaid I have not seen the original Little Mermaid for something like 25 years. This probably aided my general enjoyment of yet another Disney remake, as I imagine that more diehard fans of the original would find more to fault here than I did. Having said that, some of the alterations worked for me such as the decision to give Prince Eric more backstory and a new song. Halle Bailey is perfectly cast as Ariel (regardless of what the internet’s worst arseholes will have you believe) and the quality of her singing is a match for the original. The highlight of the entire film is probably the moment when the crescendo of “Part Of Your World” hits, the waves crash against the shore and you’re fleetingly reminded of when Disney could still stir the soul. There’s an enjoyable performance too from Melissa McCartney as Ursula who brings a certain amount of fun to one of the House of Mouse’s greatest pantomime villains. Unfortunately, what these films lose in the transiti...
Read more