I'd never heard of Atari Teenage Riot until Richie started talking about them a lot; I never heard their music until Jen picked up the cd while visiting my house. I was converted into a fan almost immediately. This was the third time I'd seen them in concert. The first time was in Indianapolis on the Rage Against the Machine tour. That show was pretty lame - the venue was huge and the crowd wasn't there for ATR. The second time was two years later, also in Indy. My friend Tommy and I saw them open for Ministry. The show was better than the first, but still lacking. However, about a week later, Tommy and I decided to catch them at Emo's in Austin, TX (15 August 1999).

We were told the show would start around ten or eleven. WRONG. The band didn't show up until just before midnight. It was worth the wait. ATR took the stage at 1:20 am and played until 2:40 am. The crowd was the most energetic I'd ever seen. The show began with Alec & Carl jumping off the stage and into the crowd and ended with them inviting all of us up front onto stage. We were up there for the last 20 minutes (or so) of the show. I left bruised and exhausted, but definitely happy. These are the photos I managed to take during the show...