While the Mayans may not have predicted the end of the world, Wednesday night at The Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles, The Airborne Toxic Event put on a phenomenal show that sure made it feel like the apocalypse.
At a venue that hosts everything from wrestling matches to nightclub dancing, the L. A. natives played their first hometown show since finishing their third record, “Such Hot Blood.” While the album will be released later this spring, the band is at the beginning of a North American tour, playing old favorites in addition to tracks from the new album.
When the darkness faded on the stage, the band stood in familiar positions, all smiling and all breathing heavily. Above them hung a massive plastic winged creature pierced with an arrow on one side, as blood spewed from the opposite side. This image, that has become almost the mascot for the band since their 2008 eponymous debut album, was a dominant force and seemed to sway during the entire concert.
The orchestrated chaos of the band slowly began, as the band played the title track from its second record, “All at Once.” Mikel Jollett, lead singer and guitarist, stood stone cold with a grin after finishing the song. He waved to the top balconies, at his family and friends who were in attendance. It really made little difference whether the band performed a new song or whether they played the first song they had written, “Wishing Well.” For the entire 100-minute set, the crowd could not stop moving, like a sea upon rocky shores.
The defining skill that The Airborne Toxic Event has mastered, which cannot be said for a lot of bands, is each band member’s ability to develop as individual musicians, who collectively tore the stage apart Wednesday.
Violist and keyboardist Anna Bulbrook could be found on all corners of the stage and even momentarily in the crowd. A talented performer, Bulbrook seemed at times to be possessed by her instruments. With hair covering her face as she slammed the keys of the keyboard or stood upright and refined as she played the opening to “Sometime Around Midnight” under a single spotlight, no one felt the music more than she.
A classy and charismatic presence on the stage, bassist Noah Harmon swung his bass low and moved quickly around the stage, finding one of the other band members to play with five inches apart. Steven Chen, lead guitarist of the band, stood in an open stance the entire night with his head proudly rested on his shoulders. The sole instrumental sound of each song could be heard from Chen’s guitar throughout the night.
And behind the jumping and the screaming sat Daren Taylor, the drummer, who with an almost choreographed elegancy about his playing, seemed to make everyone take a step back. Only afterward to take two steps closer, of course.
At the center of the madness that is the achievement of the entire band was Jollett. A man with the energy and thrill of a rebellious teenager, with the mind and artful thinking of Walt Whitman, Jollett dominated every facet of the show. He was adored by the intimately small club full of rowdy kids and adults alike. As the band played songs of the new record, such as “Timeless” and “The Storm,” the crowd could not be contained.
As Chen began the guitar intro to “Does This Mean You’re Moving On?,” Jollett’s traditional crowd surfing song, Jollett grabbed the auxiliary mic off the floor, pointed once into the dense crowd, and leapt right in. The crowd showcased an admiration that wasn’t just a common courtesy, the audience screamed every word and every cheer was warranted.
The remainder of the band’s set contained an electrical and fast-driven rendition of “The Kids are Ready to Die” as well as the elaborate and fascinating 10-minute version of “Innocence.” After finishing the song, the band solemnly stepped off stage. But there was a glimmer in Taylor’s eyes as if he meant to assure the crowd they would be back.
And back they came. By the time the last chord was strummed, the band had played for almost two hours, performed numerous tracks off all three albums, including songs like “Duet” which are not on any studio album, and had returned for two separate encores. The band finished the show in the most appropriate fashion, performing its signature “Missy” medley which includes covers of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Tom Petty’s “American Girl” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” After the lights came back up, Jollett and the rest of the band stuck around to take pictures and shake hands with their devoted fans.
If there’s one show that every fan of rock ‘n’ roll music should see, with a band and audience coming together for insane amounts of musical excitement, it’s The Airborne Toxic Event.