Atmosphere at Riverside Theater
It is without regret that I inform you that the Slug of yesteryear—the loveable, self-deprecating, womanizing alcoholic—is no longer at the helm of Atmosphere. Instead, the Slug on display Thursday night at the Riverside Theater was a heavily composed mix of a new narrative persona and salvaged parts of his former self.
Since the release of 2008’s When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, Slug has shied away from his signature style of documenting his demons and personal struggles on wax. And who can blame him? You can only make the same album so many times before the well of personal heartache runs dry. But if you think Atmosphere has gone soft, think again. Opening the show with the hyper-intensity of “Trying To Find A Balance,” from Seven’s Travels, sent a clear message that the night’s focus wouldn’t rest entirely on new material, even with this week’s release of To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EPs.
As Slug and his partner Ant have done since 2005, Atmosphere is touring with a live band, which always offers some welcome added muscle to the stage show. The members of this current lineup—including guitarist-singer Nate Collis and keyboardist Erick Anderson—have made themselves fixtures of Atomsphere tours. Not only did the players add rich texture to tracks like “Modern Man’s Hustle,” and create hypnotic rhythms like those on the powerful “Shrapnel,” but they also take pressure off of Ant, who (no discredit to his musical prowess) could use extra time on stage to drink PBR and look like Steven Seagal in Hard To Kill.
Slug made it clear that he has love for Milwaukee (even if he refused to wear any of the Brewers hats thrown onto the stage), saying, “I know I’m not at home, but it’s so familiar here.” It should be. Milwaukee has been on the schedule of nearly every Atmosphere tour in the past 10 years. In return, overzealous Milwaukeeans showed their appreciation by throwing cigarettes onto the stage. Somewhat puzzled by this gesture, Slug shot back, “I don’t want your cigarettes. I’ve got my own cigarettes. They’re filled with weed.”
