It was supposed to be nearly five years. But the pandemic had other plans. Instead, nearly seven years since their last tour, L.A.-based The Airborne Toxic Event landed in St. Louis to a packed room of grateful fans at Delmar Hall on March 29.
Performing an intoxicating 100-minute concert full of favorites and one new single, “Faithless,” the band didn’t miss a beat on the sixth night of their Hollywood Park tour.
They opened with the title track “Hollywood Park” from their album released in 2020 and performed three more songs from this album that Sputnik Music said, “The Airborne Toxic Event have come roaring back with arguably their greatest offering to date.”
Cheers, claps, and of course, singing along to several songs such as “Gasoline” and “All I Ever Wanted” was par for the course, however, a hush washed over the room during “All These Engagements.”
The Airborne Toxic Event
Frontman Mikel Jollett did not waste time and wasn’t much for small talk but when he did pause to share stories about growing up, he did so in the most eloquent of ways.
Mostly bathed in red, gold, purple, and sometimes blue hues during much of the show, “Sometime Around Midnight” summoned an entirely different mood with bright white, strobing lights.
After a short break, Jollett and Mimi Peschet (backing vocals, violin) started the encore with an acoustic version of the simple, melodic “The Graveyard by the House” which the rest of the band gradually appeared back on stage and joined in to fill out the song.
After “Happiness is Overrated,” a mash-up that began and ended with “Missy” included “Head On,” a cover of “Ring of Fire,” band and tour member intros, and a drum solo by Daren Taylor, which Jollett quipped, “the problem with modern music is there are not enough drum solos.”
L.A.-based Mondo Cozmo, aka Joshua Ostrander, opened the night with a half-hour of his expansive sound of “rock stylings with hip-hop elements and folky … earthiness.” Supporting his third album, This is for the Barbarians to be released on April 8, he opened the night with the opening track on the album and newly released single, “Electrify My Love.” The too-short set included “Thunder,” “Plastic Soul,” The Verve cover “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” and “Automatic.” His red, white, and blue guitar has been well-used since he performed at LouFest in 2017.
Find more photos: https://bit.ly/AirborneTE22cz
See what’s coming up next at Delmar Hall: https://www.thepageant.com/calendar/
Mondo Cozmo
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
