The Airborne Toxic Event: Acoustic Set Live at Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone Breaking band the Airborne Toxic Event have a new single in heavy rotation and a world tour on the horizon — but before they took off, the post-punk five-piece popped by the RS offices to perform an acoustic set in our studios. Singer-guitarist Mikel Jollett, guitarist Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, violinist Anna Bulbrook and drummer Daren Taylor played a beautiful, stripped-down version of their self-titled debut's breakthrough tune "Sometime Around Midnight" (click above to watch), their latest single "Wishing Well," and even debuted a song "that has not been recorded, anywhere" called "A Letter to Georgia." Check out the second two songs and the band's upcoming tour itinerary below.

June 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
Sept. 17 - Pomona, CA @ The Fox Theatre
Sept. 20 - Tempe, AZ @ Tempe Beach Park - Arizona Fall Frenzy
  Sept. 24 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre
Sept. 25 - Omaha, NB @ The Slowdown
Sept. 26 - Des Moines, IA @ People's Court
Sept. 28 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada
Sept. 29 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain's
  Sept. 30 - Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
Oct. 1 - Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
Oct. 3 - Austin, TX @ Zilker Park - ACL
Oct. 6 - St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre
Oct. 7 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Loft
  Oct. 8 - Columbia, SC @ Headliners
  Oct. 9 - Norfolk, VA @ Norva
Oct. 10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Oct. 12 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
  Oct. 15 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
  Oct. 17 - Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
  Oct. 18 - Montreal, QC @ Le Tulipe
Oct. 19 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
  Oct. 21 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
Oct. 22 - Detroit MI @ Crofoot
Oct. 24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Oct. 28 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
  Oct. 29 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox Market
Oct. 30 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
Oct. 31 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
Nov. 2 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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