We've Got A Flyer On You: The Ataris & Versus The World Bassist Mike Davenport (The Witzard Interview)

L-R: Metallica's James Hetfield with Mike Davenport & Donald Spence from Versus The World at Soundwave 2013 (SOURCE: Mike Davenport)

We've Got A Flyer On You will (hopefully!) be a new recurring column here at The Witzard. It's set to feature, examine, and re-visit mixed bill/genre, once-in-a-lifetime, iconic, and otherwise noteworthy Punk/Hardcore show flyers and their corresponding line-ups. As often as possible, we plan to speak directly with the promoters, bookers, flyer artists, soundmen/women, show attendees, and, most importantly, the artists themselves. If all goes well, we’re even hoping to, eventually, cover a handful of shows we attended ourselves in years past, as well.

For this slightly re-vamped edition of We've Got A Flyer On You, we'll be spotlighting a noteworthy musician, rather than an infamous show. Mike Davenport is a veteran Punk bassist and vocalist who has played with The Ataris, Versus The World, and Cave Mummy, and served as Antifreeze's manager. Davenport played with The Ataris from 1996-2004, as well as 2014-16, being featured on their breakout album, So Long Astoria, appearing on smash hits like "In This Diary," "The Boys of Summer," and "The Saddest Song." Davenport has been featured on bills alongside the likes of 311, The Adolescents, Autopilot Off, Less Than Jake, Lit, Metallica, Pennywise, Rufio, Sugarcult, The Vandals, and zebrahead. We spoke with Mike Davenport, via email, about some of his fondest memories playing mixed bill shows with both The Ataris & Versus The World, as well as what he's currently working on musically. Check it out below the break!


ONE. What are some of the most varied mixed bill/genre show line-ups you were fortunate enough to partake in?

Mike Davenport: When you are starting out in a "baby" Punk band, like we were at the beginning of The Ataris, we only played with Punk & Ska bands. It was the mid-90's and both styles of music were interchangeable, especially, in Southern California. Once we started having some success, then, the offer for more diverse shows and tours started to come in and we were always of the mindset that if we played with different style bands, then, we would be reaching an audience that we would not normally play in front of and, maybe, we could turn some people onto Punk [Rock] that were normally not into our style of music.

By the early 2000's, we had signed to Columbia Records and once you are on a major label with songs on the radio, then, you go out to do festivals and "radio" shows and it's at those performances that you really play with bands you never thought possible. In the early days, we opened for The Mighty [Mighty] Bosstones and I thought, at the time, this was a band I never imagined preforming with, but by the mid-2000's, we had played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, and The Prodigy, just to name a few. It was amazing to me that our little Punk band was now going up against these bands and we were holding our own.

TWO. What were the circumstances behind one particular set of shows: Less Than Jake, The Ataris & zebrahead?

Davenport: Less Than Jake [LTJ] and The Ataris were both managed, at the time, by Kevin Lyman, the owner and creator of The Warped Tour. Kevin came to us with the idea of us doing a tour together and we had already done a whole Warped Tour with LTJ and loved them as a band as friends. I had heard of zebrahead and knew they were on a major label, but I didn’t know their music when we started the that tour. I can tell you that by the end of that tour, I was not only a zebrahead fan, but, also, became great friends with them, also. It was an amazing tour all three bands were at their best and the shows were sold out every night. All three bands do a different style of Punk Rock, but it all comes from Punk Rock. It was an amazing time.

THREE. OK, two specific shows, actually... do you recall how this particular show with The Ataris, First Grade Crush, Beefcake, The Grand Marquis & Mike at The Fireside Bowl?

Davenport: I am foggy when it comes to this show, I cannot lie. I do remember it, but mostly for the fact that it was my one and only time playing the legendary Fireside Bowl. At that time, in the mid-90’s, there were a few bowling alley venues around the country that did Punk shows, but none as well known as The Fireside (maybe, Tempe Bowl in Phoenix, too.) I remember the tour more than anything. Beefcake & The Ataris had the same booking agent and he set us up on a US tour that was seriously 100 shows in three and a half months. Beefcake became our brothers during that run, even though our style of Punk Rock was completely different, we ended up drafting John [Collura,] their guitar player and he became our [guitar] player through our most classic line-up. By the end of that tour, "San Dimas High School Football Rules" had come out on [Fat Music, Vol. IV] Life In The Fat Lane and we went from playing backyards basements and bowling alleys ([some] of the best shows of my life) to the corporate Rock clubs and festivals.

FOUR. From what I was able to find online, it looks like you may have, also, played shows with 311, Lit, Autopilot Off, Sugarcult, Rufio, Adolescents, and Pennywise. Do you remember any specific details about any of the aforementioned gigs?

Davenport: Another amazing tour that we did in 2002 was The Ataris, Sugarcult, Rufio, and Autopilot Off. We were pretty big, at the time, and had just finished recording So Long Astoria and wanted to get back on the road in a big way, so we booked that tour with bands we personally hand-picked to have a blast with [and] sell out the big Rock clubs across The US & Canada. Sugarcult were close friends from Santa Barbara, where we all lived and came up together. The fact that we were all having success at the same time was amazing. To tour with friends from your hometown and see the world is priceless. John, our guitar player is from New York and was close friends with Autopilot Off, so it was just a bunch of bros having a blast across America selling out The House of Blues every night. Ahhhh, good times.

The Vandals, Pennywise, Ataris, [and] Adolescents show was a single show at the classic Long Beach Arena. It was sold out 13,500 people and I was looking forward to it, as my dad showed dogs when I was a kid and I attended a dog show with him there, believe it or not. That show was crazy for a couple of reasons. As a young Punk Rocker, I worshipped The Adolescents and It was my first time playing a show on the same bill. I remember there being some stress over The Adolescents playing before us, especially, in Long Beach and Kris [Roe] and I going to talk to the great Steve Soto and letting him know whatever they wanted, we would go with. In the end, The Adolescents played before us because that’s how the show was built by the promoter, but for sure, we didn't deserve that with their great history. Every band on that show had an amazing time.

FIVE. What were some of your personal favorite aspects about being able to play mixed bill/genre shows with so many different type of bands and musicians?

Davenport: I like playing festivals because you get to see and play with so many bands that you would never get to. With Versus The World, we played Soundwave in Australia; it's like Warped Tour with Punk & Metal. We played with Metallica, Slayer, blink-182, Linkin Park, and The Vandals, just to name a few bands on that tour. It was so amazing to play our set, then, run over and watch Metallica & Slayer when they went on. I am a fan of all music, if it's good (except [for] "Pop" Country) and so, playing mixed bill can, sometimes, even be better than playing with 10 local Punk bands, believe it or not! 🤣

SIX. What are you currently working on, if anything, in a musical capacity?

Davenport: I have not played a show since December of 2018. Right now, with COVID raging and finishing up my punishment for my legal issues, I am just starting to work on songs again. I will have some exciting band news soon after The Pandemic ends and I will be back touring around the world and releasing new songs. For now, all of the old Ataris & Versus The [World] albums are being re-released on vinyl, so, please, check them out!!!!