The Airborne Toxic Event @ Pianos...Again.

The Airborne Toxic Event
@ Pianos
New York, NY - June 12, 2008

This may be the most original band in America. They don't sound or look like anyone else. So far the only thing they repeat is their intense and immense performance on their visits to New York City and Pianos in particular. Whether they are playing straight up rock n' roll like "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" and "Gasoline", pleasant pop like "Happiness Is Overrated" (you can catch their February Pianos performance of this song shot by yours truly here), or monster, thundering bust-your-heart-into-a-million-pieces power ballads like "Sometime Around Midnight" and "Wishing Well", Mikel and company construct deep-seeded, substantive songs.

Free of gimmicks, pressure, cliquishness, and all those other things that usually go with the territory of rock n' roll, the Airborne Toxic Event curl up with a literary bent, and then unfurl a torrent of prose and poetry. On a deeper level than even that, they just know how to tear it up. The twin Fender Jaguar guitar attack by Mikel and Steve make for some potent mixes of boogie and pop. "Shy"Anna is a one woman wrecking crew on keyboards, viola, tambourine, and sudden mosh pits on the floor literally knocking this poor old writer for a loop. Meanwhile, Noah and Daren provide the most pumping, pounding rhythm section to come along in a long while.

Earlier today, I was asked to name my five favorite bands playing in the world of music right now: I easily came up with the Dirtbombs, the National, the Hold Steady, and Camera Obscura. The fifth took me a second, and I realized it was the Airborne Toxic Event. And as if to back me up, tonight's crowd demanded, and received, the first opening band encore that I have ever witnessed.

Once again, Pianos was too small to hold it in. Forget just the loud crowd that was jammed in like sardines. The sound of the band seemed to test the walls. During the crescendo within "Sometime Around Midnight", it felt like the floor was about to tear apart. When
they blow away the Fratellis' fans tomorrow night at Webster Hall, they are going to have figure out a bigger place to play (Mercury Lounge, Mercury Lounge, Mercury Lounge) when they come back, probably next month.

The debut LP is out August 5th on Majordomo. I can't wait.

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Pictures coming soon