Although The Rock*A*Teens are from Atlanta, they really don't play out that much. And since they've been recording their upcoming album, they've played out even less. But with an armful of new songs (and some free time), they took the opportunity to play a local bar on a Saturday night.

Opening for them were a group known as The H.O.T.S -- an Atlanta "supergroup" specializing in lounge-y classic rock. I wasn't sure what to expect -- but a cover of "Sunshine On My Shoulders" was not it. Nor did I expect every one of their songs to go on for 5 minutes with a mandatory guitar solo bit.

However once I accepted their sound, I actually grew to like it. And I grew to appreciate the lead singer -- a gesticulating man with a surprisingly smooth voice. In any event, their final song (a cover of the Rock*a*Teens Black Ice) played as a parody of itself -- with their lead singer yelping and screaming as if Satan himself were standing at the soundboard.

It is a known fact of life that The Rock*A*Teens never practice. As a consequence (or is that result?) their live shows are wildly varying in quality -- both in their own level of enjoyment as well as the ability of their playing.

As one might expect, this show was very loose -- filled with dropped lyrics and missed musical cues. Furthermore, it was also clear that the band's grasp of the new material ranged from tenuous to "winging it the entire way."

With that said, the show in and of itself was quite enjoyable. The new songs are happy and somewhat upbeat. And the band themselves were noticeably happy about playing in front of an enthusiastic, non-critical crowd.

I guess the best review I can give is this: when The Rock*A*Teens finished, I was ready for them to play some more.