The Toxic Airborne Event - Live
I should preface everything by saying that until 52 days ago I had never heard of Don DeLillo, and had no idea that he'd written a book called White Noise.52 days later I still haven't finished White Noise but thanks to Don DeLillo I have seen a band that quite possibly embodies enough gusto, verve, and energy to be considered the next ones.
In May of 1974 Jon Landau, then a writer for the Rolling Stone, in his review of the opening act at a Bonnie Raitt concert, wrote that he had seen the future of Rock n Roll and his name is Bruce Springsteen. Life from that day forward was different for Bruce Springsteen and that day was the day that helped launch a career that has spanned 35 years and taken Mr. Springsteen to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While I never profess to anyone to cater my writing to an audience larger than the number of bedrooms in my three bedroom home, I will say that Landau's comment then changed my life forever as I rode into my teens, and tonight as I stride into and out of a blur that could be a mid-life crisis, I will tell the two or three of you reading that the future of rock and roll in 2009 is no longer Bruce, but it's taken close to that long to find the next one, and that next one is The Airborne Toxic Event.
Every “generation” in popular times has had it’s guide, the leading edge sound that defines the era, the 40’s were Sinatra, then came Elvis, the Beatles, The Stones, The Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Springsteen, U2 eventually leading us to the 00’s where people named Timberlake, Spears, Beyonce have ruled the charts and defined the era as a cesspool of noise that at best mimics music. Boy Bands, Girl Bands, re-treads, guys whose fame is bred from a drive-by shooting and almost-was’s have really been the defining moment of this era, it’s a moment that is lost in time, it’s an era that will forever be remembered for it nothingness. The latter stages of the 00’s have brought hope and to some degree promise that not all is lost, with the advent of the internet, bands are being promoted and cross-pollinated like never before. The Kings of Leon, Colby Caillet and a few others are examples of bands that have utilized viral marketing to push their sounds, their sounds that are not common and not drivel. If not for the internet, we would revert to being held ransom by radio stations who’s revenues seem tied to how often they can re-play that new Hip Hop artist or re-hash an old April Wine ditty.
TATE seems to take on this role of leader quite easily. From the moment they hit the stage and launch into their emotion-filled conceptual rock tunes the fans in the audience are held captive. Mikel Jollet’s dead pan baritone drone hypnotizes the listener into a new state of consciousness, while Steven Chen’s guitar riffs just seem so right. But for all that TATE is and what they are going to become, it’s not so much about the sound, but it’s very much about the lyrics. This isn’t pop, this is poetry, this is a novel to music, this is very much the art form that music is intended to be. When Springsteen wrote about cars we were captivated, because the car was a symbol of his mis-spent youth and days in the 60’s when racing a car meant finding a strip of road and racing for pinks. TATE’s lyrics speak to human emotions; suicides, ex girlfriends, friends, lovers, and drunken stupors. While Justin is out there speaking about bringing his sexy back, Mikel Jollet is singing about playing some song about forgetting yourself for a while, and the piano’s this melancholy soundtrack to her smile and that white dress she’s wearing you haven’t seen her for a while.
It’s not bringing Mikel’s sexy back, but then I have to say – Thank god for that.
With only one album they are limited live. While the self-titled debut album strikes chords for me like so few have, it's justice is paid only by the band's live performance. I was one of the many that witnessed them “live” in January on the Late Show with David Letterman, and seeing that rendition of Sometime Around Midnight (with the Calder Quartet)
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTctlgFCtXE ] sent shivers through my body that night as it continues to do when I watch the video for the 50th time! To see them live was no longer something I wanted to do, it was something I felt I needed to do. Tonight, 48 days later I got to “the end” and I got to see them live.....and.....they topped that Letterman performance two-fold. What I witnessed tonight at the Mod Club in downtown Toronto was a series of moments that will never leave my mind or my memory. Quite simply TATE is a band that might just be the band that guides us through the first quarter of this millennium just as Springsteen did once upon a time. I would love to write down the song list they played, but my body and mind left me for the better part of their 65 minute show...song after song, one song building to climax and rising through the ashes to smash a string of emotions in your body.
“I went to the doctor today, because my throat's been all messed up and we had to cancel a bunch of shows. The doctor told me I had to cancel tonight's show....I told him to fuck off” quipped frontman Mikel Jollet tonight to the sold out crowd, and the band played on. As the show ended Jollet invited the crowd onto the stage and they finished their night, basically lost in a mob of fans slipping into an anonymity of being one of the crowd.
“For a clearer view, exclaim to each other in half finished phrases. It was the black billowing cloud, the airborne toxic event, lighted”. 52 days later, I am a fan of not only an indie band from L.A., but I know who Don DeLillo is now!
MJ, Steven, Anna, Noah and Daren, thanks. From the people that saw you from close up who will all forever be fans and who will tell their children in twenty years....”I saw them in a club downtown, wanna see my ticket?”
Labels: Mikel Jollet, the Mod Club, The Toxic Airborne Event
posted by G.M. Shier @ Thursday, March 05, 2009
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