Airborne Toxic Event broke out in Las Vegas this weekend!
Relax, folks…. That’s the band name, not some catastrophic or apocalyptic occurrence. The five-piece indie rock group from L.A. broke out in songs from their most recent album “All at Once” at the House of Blues on June 12. But before the main show, a few lucky Airborne fans were able to come in early for a 107.9 Secret Session, accessible only to those who’d won tickets from the radio station. The first Secret Session was back in March with Panic at the Disco. And upon finding pictures of the former Secret Session online, I was delighted to see images of the boys from Panic performing in a personal, acoustic setting; with casual hipkids looking on, as they sat atop paisley rugs and comfy meditation-style pillows.
When I received a confirmation call from the radio station after being a winning caller for the Airborne Toxic Event Secret Session, Shelby from 107.9 The Alternative graciously told me to bring a guest, a camera, and to anticipate rugs, pillows and a small, intimate, acoustic setting. She advised that the secret Airborne Toxic Event session would begin at 2pm and that we’d be able to meet, greet, chat and get autographs in a small-capacity setting. Subsequently, a couple more calls came in the days to follow, each pushing back the start time of the sesh. When the day arrived, we’d last been told to be there at 4pm; and the Secret Session ended up starting after 5pm. (Finally!)
While waiting for the Secret Session to start, I asked 107.9 The Alternative’s newest On-Air personality, Slater, what the plans are for these Secret Sessions. “The first one was a couple months ago—Panic at the Disco,” he told me. “It’s put on by the station, Miller Lite and House of Blues… We hope to do more of these.”
The session took place, not in some private, small-capacity area, but inside the House of Blues, only now I was seeing the place with all the lights on; not that I would’ve ever wanted to. Pillows? Rugs? Acoustic guitars? No, no…. and no. Darn! Well at least the band’s about to come out, I thought. I named them off in my head as they each emerged from backstage: Noah, Steven, Anna, some random guy (?), Daren…. Hmmm.
Lead singer, and main driving force behind The Airborne Toxic event was nowhere to be found. Random guy in his place, whom I later found out was named Brian, broke the news to us and stated, “Mikel [Jollett] is out with food poisoning,” right before he swallowed a bit of a man-giggle.
It wasn’t the scene I had anticipated, but it was intimate. The crowd consisted of about 30-40 of us and some random HOB staff setting up for the evening’s main show. What I’d originally thought would be an acoustic session, reminiscent of the first Secret Session, actually turned out to be: sound check.
I felt like I’d been had. But, the four band members that’d made it to sound check still brought with them a great stage presence (after their hangovers subsided and they started to focus). Anna’s slight frown eventually turned upwards into her beautiful smile as she started playing violin, playing the keyboard, and started warming up her vocal chords. “How many of you guys actually live here in Vegas?” she queried us. Most of us raised our hands and smiled in response. “We don’t know how you do it,” she grinned.
Noah [Harmon], bassist for The Airborne Toxic Event, who appeared to have recently ditched about six inches of hair, led on vocals and lead guitar as much as possible, but hardly any songs were played in their entirety. As the crew adjusted sound, microphones, lighting, settings, and the works; band members like Steven [Chen] and Noah frequently played around on other instruments and squatted down to converse with us .
I’m sure this is not exactly what 107.9 The Alternative had in mind for their second Secret Session, featuring The Airborne Toxic Event, but the session turned out to be its own kind of success. The handful of us that had been winning callers on the radio were able to listen and watch in on The Airborne Toxic Event (sans Mikel Jollett), as they got ready for the night’s performance. We were able to talk to them, take pictures with them, hear them interact and goof off with each other, and even with us. Truly good vibes came from each of the individuals from the band that I met, who kindly obliged with all of us for pictures and autographs. The life of a rock star has got to be trying in ways that those of us who work in cubicles everyday couldn’t quite understand. So four out of five band members ain’t bad, when the stop on their tour happens to be Las Vegas, right?
In a way, it was more intimate than-- and almost preferable to-- a completely organized, well-thought-out acoustic session…. It was the band members being themselves and sharing over an hour of their Vegas afternoon with us. The Airborne Toxic Event was ironically a healthy dose of fresh air.
~Meow~
Pennies
The 107.9 crew and Airborne Toxic Event members
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