Airborne Toxic Event - Feb 18,2009 at Richards on Richards

So, Richards on Richards is moving to the old A&B Sound location on Seymour! I'm so excited that Vancouver isn't losing a live music venue to condo development.

Airborne Toxic Event, indie darlings from L.A., brought their show to Vancouver on Wednesday despite a toxic throat infection being suffered by leader Mikel Jollett.
Mikel Jollett


It was a sold out crowd but the poor sound quality, and lackluster performance (perhaps due to the illness) led to a generally unappreciative audience.
Anna Bulbrook

I'd just been about to mention to the couple next to me that I could hear their conversation more then I could hear the band when Mikel berated the audience about the excessive chatter.
Daren Taylor

The throat definitely caused some problems with the show. Mikel had a problem with any high range vocals which led to an unsatisfactory rendition of some of the songs. Gasoline probably suffered the most from that loss.

Overall though, the sound and show got better as the night progressed. Mikel became more lively and he and Anna roamed through the bar and the crowd during one number. Of other notable mention was guitarist Steven Chen. An actual live Asian rock star! Other then James Iha, the only one I've seen in anything but a local band. I'm half Japanese, so I was all over that.
Steven Chen

The encore was a generally raucous affair where Mikel tried to make up for his earlier bad attitude by inviting everyone who wanted to, onto the stage.


Check out Airborne ToxicEvent and especially check out the video for the amazing song, Somewhere Around Midnight.

Opening act The Henry Clay People where notable for the energy and fun they brought to the night. Opening with a sing-a-long count out and generally wrapping the crowd around their fingers with their youthful hijinks, brothers Joey and Andy Siara made the most of the opening slot.
Andy and Joey Siara