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

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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