(03.03.08) Recommends:

Concert Photography, vol. 12.
The Airborne Toxic Event,
The Troubadour,
West Hollywood, Calif.
03.03.08

So, at a very young age we discovered that we possessed a genuine talent for getting into sold out events. We also happen to be maniacal procrastinators. (It's unclear in which direction causation runs). So for most of our live event going lives we have employed the following tactic. We see that a band we love is coming through town. Then we tell ourselves that we should totally -- oh, totally! -- go to the show. Then, we completely forget about this until about a day before the show, only to learn that the show, invariably, is sold out. Then with about two hours before the show, we conjure our awesome hidden talent and manage to procure tickets, and usually at or below face value. We have used this talent to get/impress at least three dates.

But then an interesting thing happened. We moved to Los Angeles. And we have friends who are ridiculously well-connected [1]. Which means that our special talent has laid dormant for months. One less thing to worry about, we suppose. But also one less thing with which to impress people. At this point, we're worried we might never get another date.

So tonight's two cell phone call last minute hook-up resulted in a spot at the sold out Airborne Toxic Event show.



We first heard them when we had just moved to LA and were convinced that we were on our death bed. Luckily, we lived another day. And we've spent many of the lucid days that have followed listening to tracks from this band.



The crowds keep getting bigger, and more energetic, with spontaneous sing-alongs and fist pumps a common scene.



The fiddle is pretty much the neuroscientist of rock bands: we'll always have a soft spot in our hearts for them.



We know we've gushed about this band every time that we've blogged about them. But we really believe that they have the qualities to be a band that tours nationally and becomes a big sensation. They have a very big stage presence. And the crowds eat this band up.



But even if they don't become superstars, they still put on a really fun show. And they got a room full of hundreds of people to sing and smile and dance and bop their heads. And when we stepped back to get a better view of how the crowd was responding to the band, we noticed some stalwarts of the east side LA music scene smooshed next to people who probably have never ventured east of Cahuenga for their live music fixes. And that's a pretty cool thing. We could heard Willie Nelson singing, the life I love is makin' music with my friends, and I can't wait to get on the road again.



[1] These people are also well-mannered, well-tailored, well-coiffed, well-read, well-educated, smell pretty, cook gourmet meals, run sub-four minute miles, can create complex origami figures, engage in linear algebra over lunch breaks, look reasonable in Speedo brand swimsuits, and stop-drop-and-roll before you even smell the smoke. We don't know where they come from or why they agree to hang out with us. But we're not complaining.