On Friday the 20th of February 2004, me and two friends (Eva and Hilek) went to see Planes Mistaken for Stars, Cursive and the Ataris at the Astoria.

Well, my parents DID know about this gig. So me, Kate and Eva got there at about one and froze our socks off. Which was useless, 'cos when we got in me and Kate just stood at the back anyway. But Eva got a barrier place, and as the whole thing was for her Christmas present anyway...

Planes Mistaken for Stars
They really rocked out, and woke the crowd up surprising well seeing as PMFS and the Ataris are totally musically separate. They didn't play any songs that I recognised, but whatever, they were still good. We met them afterwards and they were really nice, down-to-earth people, and were so shocked that my friend had come to the gig especially to see them. I'll definitely go see them next time they play in London, but I got the impression that most people at the gig didn't really like them.

Cursive
Now, these guys are weird. I'm sorry, I have to say it. What other rock bands do you know that include a female cellist?!
However, I felt that they were trying really hard to put on the best damn show for the crowd. Their song "A Gentleman Caller" was definitely a high point, as it was played really well. But the fact that the banner for the Ataris got a louder cheer when it was dropped than Cursive did for their entire set put together says a lot about the crowd's view.

the Ataris
Everyone in the entire place woke up when they walked on stage, despite the obvious lighting problems. They played a good mixture of old and new songs, including "Your Boyfriend Sucks" (yay!). At the end, they also played a cover of "Aneurysm" by Nirvana, which was a nice touch as everyone knew the words and it was Kurt Cobain's birthday :)
However, the low point at this gig was the crowd. It was a sold-out show, yet the crowd seemed to be really sparse- I managed to just walk up to the front until I was two rows away! Few people could crowdsurf properly because they kept getting dropped, and the circle pits were crap affairs, I have to say.
Also, they did not play "Teenage Riot" which I think was a mistake as "Teenage Riot" is a song that could wake up any crowd, easily.

All in all, though, it was a pretty good gig even though I only really got into it towards the end.

High points: when Eva met Kris Roe, then we tried to run him over in our car, A Gentleman Caller by Cursive, Your Boyfriend Sucks by the Ataris.

Low points: the crappy lighting, the crappy crowd.

Stars out of 5: 2.5

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