Review of The Airborne Toxic Event at The Academy on November 6th 2011
Photos: Kieran Frost
Review: Deirdre Harrison
Frequent visitors to Irish shores, The Airborne Toxic Event returned to The Academy for the second round of promotion for sophomore album, “All At Once”. This being their third visit in less than a year, would they still be able to attract fan interest?
Opening act, The Chevin gave their debut Irish performance to a slowly filling Academy. They suffered slightly with the disadvantage of beginning their set at the incredibly early time of 8.00pm given that the doors only opened at 8pm. Despite this they managed to close their performance with a respectable audience. The Leeds four-piece followed an indie by numbers formula yet showed promise. With some work on discovering their own unique sound and image they could go far.
Anticipation grew as the crowd swelled to almost capacity levels; no easy feat on a Sunday night. As The Airborne Toxic Event graced the stage, fans let their appreciation be heard with a forceful cheer. Opening with “All At Once” before moving onto “Half Of Something”, the untrained ear worried that all their songs may sound exactly like lesser versions of their biggest hit, “Something Around Midnight”. Thankfully their next choice, “Letter to Georgia” put any fears to rest, a one trick pony they certainly were not.
From this point on the band delivered a terrific performance delivering crowd pleasers from both their self-titled debut and follow-up. Not only did the set list keep the crowd entertained, lead singer Mikel Jollett regaled the audience with anecdotes on the group’s supposed ancestry and interaction with fans, particularly “the Kerry delegation”. At one stage the front man even took part in some climbing to perform on the balcony of the venue.
Highlight of the evening of course belonged to “Something Around Midnight”, from the moment the heart-breaking strings echoed around The Academy, fans raised their phones high in the air to capture the jewel in The Airborne Toxic Event crown. Finishing the first part of their set with “All I Ever Wanted”, it was time for the obligatory encore and a further two songs. At this point the crowd began to vacate the venue.
This was not the end however, and those who remained were treated to a second encore featuring a breath-taking cover ofBruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”, the addition of Anna Bulbrook’s viola adding an extra layer of emotion to what is already a deeply passionate and lustful song. Another cover was thrown into the mix, a raucous version of The Clash classic, “I Fought The Law” that had the crowd dancing and singing in unison. Finishing with “Missy”, it was the perfect way to end the night.
Although The Airborne Toxic Event may have a reputation as a hit and miss live act, tonight there was very few misses and an abundance of smashing hits. An act that are often overshadowed by their peers; if tonight’s show is anything to go by it is a crime they have not received the recognition they deserve.