Recap: Airborne Toxic Event at Triple Rock Social Club
Anna Bulbrook and Noah Harmon
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The Airborne Toxic Event may have canceled its previous five shows because singer Mikel Jollett had laryngitis, but his voice was healthy and the band was in fine form Friday night at the Triple Rock Social Club. After a full 2008—from duking it out with Pitchfork Media over a negative review of its self-titled full-length, to the single “Sometime Around Midnight” being named the #1 Alternative Song of 2008 by iTunes—this L.A.-based quintet fought for its success and fans. The fans turned out Friday, some driving in from northern Minnesota and even Iowa to catch the show.
TATE didn’t let the near-capacity crowd down. The orchestral opening of Anna Bulbrook’s violin and Noah Harmon’s bass on “Wishing Well” slid easily into Steven Chen’s sharp, Strokes-inflected guitar hooks. Songs such as “Papillon” and “Gasoline” gave the show a bouncing forward momentum. The band played with involvement and exuberance (and Jollet is more personable than Julian Casablancas ever managed to be) and kept the crowd happy, especially when Jollet lyric-checked The Hold Steady by saying the girl in “Gasoline” “wasn’t all that strict of a Christian.” Propelled by Daren Taylor’s impressively animated drum playing, TATE gave L.A. a good name and brought some much-needed California sun to the Minnesota winter.
Anna Bulbrook, Mikel Jollett, Daren Taylor, Steven Chen, and Noah Harmon
Mikel Jollett
Mikel Jollett, Noah Harmon, and Steven Chen
Steven Chen and Noah Harmon
Steven Chen
Noah Harmon
Anna Bulbrook and Noah Harmon
Noah Harmon and the crowd
