Reunion
In October 2009, Elias contacted Empire to play some concerts together, but had to refrain because of her voice. When it became clear that Elias wouldn’t show up to the first show, the band published a statement 30 minutes before show time.
In January 2010, it was announced ATR would reunite for a few live shows in Europe. Later in the year, they announced additional shows in Europe, North America and Asia. In early March 2010, Empire released the new ATR track "Activate" via SoundCloud, which is the first song featuring their new MC, CX KiDTRONiK. Activate was recorded on 3 March 2010 in Berlin at the Hellish Vortex Studios. Female vocals were provided by Endo.
The band played most major festivals throughout Europe in 2010, including Reading and Leeds, and headlined the Fusion Festival in front of approximately 20,000 people (which led to a massive stage invasion by thousands of fans). In the same year, ATR headlined a stage at Japan’s Summersonic Festival, returning the following year to play at Fuji Rock Festival. Another triumph was the band’s headline slot on the electronic stage at the Berlin Festival, which is held at an old military airport in the centre of the city. These live shows were perceived as better and more energetic by critics and fans than shows during the '90s. Enthused, the band decided to add more dates. The current live line-up of ATR, as of June 2011, consists of Empire, Endo and CX KiDTRONiK.
On 12 October 2010, Steve Aoki and Dim Mak Records announced the release of Atari Teenage Riot's new single "Activate", with the full-length album Is This Hyperreal? released in 2011. The record was described as "redundant" by Pitchfork Media, in what Empire called "probably one of the dumbest reviews I’ve ever read about any record."
Read more about this topic: Atari Teenage Riot