The Airborne Toxic Event’s Passionate Show

“This is really fucking cool,” announced Mikel Jollett, lead singer of The Airborne Toxic Event (T.A.T.E.), four songs into his band’s set last Saturday at the Boston Orpheum. I admit I had to agree.

Before the band had even taken the stage, they were already eliciting cheers. Lead singer of opening act The Drowning Men, Nato Bardeen, told the crowd that a drunk driver had run into the group’s van the night before. “Our van was totaled and The Airborne Toxic Event picked us up at 5 a.m. God bless them and their beautiful hearts.” As the song started, T.A.T.E. stormed the stage with their other opening act, Mona, and plenty of alcohol. As The Drowning Men finished their last song, T.A.T.E. members Jollett and violist Anna Bulbrook set the raucous tone of their show by pouring bottles of liquor into the guitarist and vocalist’s mouths.

After the rest of the group had joined the two members on stage, they opened their show with the rousing “All at Once,” which featured Bulbrook rocking out on viola. Suffice it to say the audience response was deafening. After, Steven Chen’s keyboard solo led the group into the eerie duet “Half of Something Else,” on which Jollett shared lead vocals with Bulbrook. By way of explaining his group’s enthusiasm, Jollett said, “The first time we played here was for Franz Ferdinand. You know, Anna’s from Boston, so this is a big deal.” In keeping with the somber mood they played the lyrically beautiful “A Letter to Georgia” and a cover of Magnetic Field’s “Book of Love,” which benefitted from Jollett’s emotionally charged delivery.

The set picked up with the energetic “Wishing Well,” which perfectly exemplified the group’s effective use of classically inflected string parts in addition to standard rock orchestration. The chaotic moments become more chaotic and the somber moments become more somber thanks to Bulbrook’s stately melody lines.

Jollett’s showmanship was the driving force behind the group’s general enthusiasm. After a performance of “Numb,” he fearlessly climbed onto the balcony section to serenade Bulbrook’s parents, and during “Does This Mean You’re Moving On?” he made his way into the audience by high fiving and hugging multiple fans. With his performance of those songs and “Gasoline,” Jollett showed that sometimes a lack of vocal precision can be salvaged through unbridled enthusiasm and charisma. “Welcome to Your Wedding Day,” however, fell flat—instead, Jollett’s screaming was swallowed up by the intensity of the band.

The ethereal, now four-year-old, “Sometime Around Midnight,” which was the group’s first hit, clearly remains a fan favorite—and for good reason. It hinges on an impeccable execution of T.A.T.E.’s signature sound: a melding of moody U2-like soundscapes and the fiery passion of indie rockers. Upon hearing Bulbrooks’s opening notes, the crowd erupted and sang every lyric.

T.A.T.E. left the stage amid thunderous applause, which did not end until Jollett and Bulbrook came out for an encore. “There’s no story more true than this,” Jollett said as he and Bulbrook began to sing the acoustic “The Graveyard Near the House.” Bulbrook’s viola once again made the already somber song even more haunting. The rest of the band joined them for a performance of “Innocence,” which also drew its initial melancholy from a glorious pairing of Harmon’s upright bass and Bulbrook’s viola before easily transitioning into a high-energy rock piece.

T.A.T.E. left the stage again, but just like before they came out after about five minutes of screaming and applause. During their second encore, they performed “Missy,” a song off their first album. Jollett waxed nostalgic, reminiscing, “I wanted more than five people to like this song who weren’t my family. I didn’t know any musicians and then I met all of these fucking great people. This song is about you as much as it is about us.”

Near the end of the concert Jollett stared into the crowd reflectively and said, “I’m not going to pretend this isn’t a big deal.” It would be foolish to do so.