Review: The Airborne Toxic Event
5 stars.
The Airborne Toxic Event opened their Nov. 12 sold-out show at the Vogue with “All at Once,” the title track for their new album. From then on, the crowd was on their feet, clapping and singing along with each song performed. Probably the most exciting part of the night would be when frontman Mikel Jollett walked through the audience and literally danced on the bar with a bottle in his hand during the songs, “Does This Mean You’re Moving On” and “Gasoline.” Not much later, before the performance of “Welcome to Your Wedding Day,” Jollett explained how the band always gets accused of being anti-American for that specific song. The audience cheered loudly as Jollett got heated in his explanation, “It’s not anti-American to question your leaders. That’s the f***ing definition of democracy.”
My only complaint from the show would be the Vogue starting it an hour early, allowing the night to end at 10 p.m. so they could have a dance party. “It had to be a disco, didn’t it?,” Jollett joked at the end of the show. He said his main complaints with disco were: not enough bass solos and not enough drum solos, which gave him a chance to showcase the talent in his band.
The excitement filled night ended with a medley of “Missy” and “I Fought the Law” and Jollett expressing how the point of his band was just to have someone listen to and connect with their songs. That was the moment when it was apparent that you had just heard honest musicians.
