01 Oct 10

Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide's gearing up for one all-star October of On The Town reviews! This reviewer will be hitting the streets from every point of the local scene covering what's happening in Chicago. From the stage at the hottest venues to charity`events, SouthSide shall be there. Tonight her month-long of adventures began at Bottom Lounge for Atari Teenage Riot with Caustic and Aluminum Girl opening.

It was a night full of angst and frustration rockin' the stage with a fusion of hardcore metal and electronica inside Bottom Lounge. When, SouthSide arrived, Caustic was already firing up this crowd with its energetic metal-rock sound. It had plenty of fist-pumping action music keeping many closest to the stage feeling that angered-tone vibe. Caustic music totally spoke to its target audience - the youth with lots of fast, furious rock songs. There were sporatic moments of moshing and slam dancing happening amongst the crowd. She highly recommends checking out this band at their next show. For more information, visit http://www.myspace.com/causticmusic or also on Facebook.com. Meanwhile, SouthSide felt the excitement and momentum gradully slipped to a lull during Aluminum Girl's set. Though having a cross between electronica/Euro disco wave, this reviewer instantly noticed the female vocalist had this autotuned voice mic for a high pitch J-Pop sound on lyrics. Unlike Caustic's set, the mood amongst the crowd seemed laidback despite generating bits of excitement with a few fans. SouthSide wasn't feeling this performance even though enjoying the rockin' vibe off the programmed rhythms and music.

Formed back in the early 90s, the German band, Atari Teenage Riot (or simply known as ATR amongst its hardcore fans) have been no stranger to controversy surrounding its music. Their anti-government and political views within the lyrics (literally) caused riots as well as having their 1997 album, Future of War, deemed a threat to German society. However, tonight the crowd of fans were excited to be amidst the long awaited reunion US tour as the stage went black to start ATR's headlining show. Chaotic atmosphere instantly erupted upon hearing the digital hardcore vibe to the opening theme song. SouthSide immediately loved how the lighting effects were timed in sync with each ATR song on the playlist throughout the performance. Besides giving the fans a dazzling light show, it also gave them that energetic momentum in a fast-paced tempo electronica rock sound that almost went out of control, blogspot readers. ATR thrived on that type of energy which wasn't solely contained to the stage but also within the crowd throughout the venue. There were bouts of stage diving as well as moshing/slam dancing while rocking under the wild excitement of hardcore/screamo angst and digital music.

Yet behind the rockin' digital sound, ATR laced its songs with fiery lyrics and/or political messages truly speaking the thoughts of today's generation like it did nearly twenty years ago. Their intense rock performance featured songs like 2000 Years Of Culture, Start The Riot, Sick To Death and Revolution Action. There was plenty of fist pumpin' action during Atari Teenage Riot (the song) in which the band made a political reference to President Obama and Get Out While You Can - ATR's message to those who don't want to be a part of the united front against government censorship and lies. The band even had a message to the world leaders - "...we are watching you ...we are united..." Their fans were definitely united on that same stance with the band until the very end. SouthSide highly recommends checking out the fast and ferocious ...anti-politics of Atari Teenage Riot while they're currently in the US touring. For more information, visit http://www.atari-teenage-riot.com or http://www.myspace.com/atr922000.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide