Airborne Toxic Event: Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ 4/1/13

On April Fools’ Day in Tempe fans of all ages migrated toward the Marquee Theater which resembled an underground storage company with the mass amount of construction that the venue is currently undergoing.  LA’s Airborne Toxic Event is preparing to release their third album Such Hot Blood on April 16th and this performance marks the third stop in their record supporting tour.

The night began with LA’s Nightmare Air, who in March just released their debut album High in the Laser. As Swaan Miller and David Dupuis took turns at switching vocals leads, the band commented how thrilled they are about touring with tonight’s headliners, as they played a number of songs from their debut.

The lights dimmed as Airborne Toxic Event took the stage and lead vocalist Mikel Jollett walked up to mic and the crowd screamed uncontrollably.  The band immediately jumped into “Gasoline” from their 2008 self titled album, a profound opener with its powerful hooks and immediate swagger.

The stage décor was set up strategically with two dark trees that resembled a horror flick, and went along with the band’s raw emotional musicality. However, the instrument that sets Airborne apart from most is their imaginative use of the violin, and when Anna Bulbrook started drawing her bow during “Gasoline” the crowd erupted.  Airborne’s acrobatic moves of standing on each other shoulders while performing added to the visual stimulation, along with a precious moment when lead singer Jollett held Bulbrook in his arms during “Does This Mean Your Moving On.”

After an hour of playing, the band ripped through their final song and stepped off the stage, but the outburst from the crowd brought em back for an encore.  Airborne Toxic Event returned and performed The Magnetic Fields’ "Book of Love," "The Graveyard Near The House," "The Storm" and a medley of "Missy / Ring of Fire / American Girl / Born In The USA" to thunderous ethusiasm. With a recently released EP, a new full length album due and a continually invigorating live show, Airborne Toxic Event continues to fool nobody as they obtain new fans as easily as preserving their old ones. 

Photos by Lindsay Nordstrom

Setlist

Gasoline
Happiness is Overrated
Does This Mean You’re Moving On?
True Love
Changing
Something New
The Girls in Their Summer Dresses
Half Of Something Else
The Secret
Numb
Safe
Wishing Well
Timeless
Sometime Around Midnight
All I Ever Wanted
All At Once
Encore:
The Book of Love
(The Magnetic Fields cover)
The Graveyard Near The House
The Storm
Missy / Ring of Fire / American Girl / Born In The USA

 

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