While California rockers have (perhaps unfairly) been the subject of many a snooty music writer’s sneers of “derivative” or “forgettable,” their stage presence is one of tightly conducted musicianship and joviality, punctuated by raw emotion. For this reason, the black-clad figures and pretty guitars looked somehow perfectly at home in front of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. Though the concept of a Pops show is nothing new, one can’t help but admire arrangements that somehow complement, deepen and accentuate the sound of a four-piece rock band with swells of strings, winds, brass and exuberant percussion.
That said, there were a few things about this particular pairing that made it neither fish nor fowl. Tweens with LED necklaces and skinny pants dotted the crowd, tucked between elderly symphony-goers in minks and pearls. The carefully-engineered between-song silence of the frequently erupted in girly squeals of “We love you Mikel!” and “Turn it up, Steven!” And I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen a bunch of young women pogo dance in the aisles of a concert hall before. But when it came to the music, the duality of a modern rock ensemble and a canonically-trained orchestra melted away into a singular, powerful, driving force.
Nowhere was this parity more apparent than during the band’s most recognizable hit, “Sometime Around Midnight,” which brutally relates the experience of seeing a former lover and recalling the power of what was once shared. Though the band has probably played this song hundreds of times, frontman Mikel Jolletap face betrayed what looked like still-raw pain as the strings built to crescendo and the percussionist rocked out on a six-foot gong. As the last tones of the song faded out, the band looked genuinely awestruck at the standing ovation, and the powerful thing they had just done.
Though TATE has had an uphill battle impressing the Pitchfork crowd, facing accusations of being too radio-friendly or too “produced,” it was clear from their seamless coordination with the CSO that they are musicians above all else. Anna Bulbrook’s good-natured competition with her viola against the strings section, Noah Harmon’s meticulous bow-playing of his bright red bass, Steven Chen’s cascading guitar licks and Jolletap cinematic songwriting all attest to this. TATE proved themselves last night. Most poppy modern-rock bands would get lost in the sound of classically-trained artists, but the Airborne Toxic Event made it their own.
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Cassandra Schoon is a Denver freelance writer and regular Reverb contributor.
