Given the archive's photo dates (2008-2010) and the name "Airborne," this is clearly referring to The Airborne Toxic Event, whose peak popularity and touring coincided exactly with that window. Let me get a bit more on their early success and self-titled debut chart performance. The Airborne Toxic Event took shape in Los Angeles in 2006, born from an unlikely creative spark. Frontman Mikel Jollett, a novelist and freelance writer at the time, turned to songwriting as a way to channel his own pain, having been born into the Synanon cult, forming the band in 2006 alongside guitarist and keyboardist Steven Chen and other collaborators . The lineup came together gradually, as the group initially took shape as a Los Angeles based duo with Jollett and drummer Daren Taylor, before a roster expansion brought in classically trained violinist Anna Bulbrook, jazz bassist Noah Harmon, and guitarist Steven Chen . The band took its unusual name from literature, as it was named after a section describing a chemical spill in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, chosen because the event in the book triggers a fear of death and sense of mortality that alters the protagonist's outlook . Their combination of raw indie rock energy with orchestral strings, unusual for the genre, quickly set them apart on the Los Angeles club circuit.
The band's breakthrough came fast. After their debut show in October 2006, the band played its first show at the Echo in Echo Park less than a month after it was fully formed, and the following month played the CMJ Music Marathon . They released an EP in 2007, then signed with Majordomo Records in 2008 and released their self-titled debut album that year, with "Sometime Around Midnight" becoming a Top Ten modern rock hit that prompted Island Records to sign the band in early 2009 . That debut was a genuine grassroots phenomenon, as it sold over 200,000 copies in the U.S. and over 300,000 internationally, spending 53 weeks on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, with eight of those weeks at number one . The single itself became their signature song, eventually reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart , while overseas the record debuted in the top 40 of the UK pop charts, with every single show of its follow up UK tour selling out .
The band's momentum carried into a productive run of albums and constant touring through the following decade. Their sophomore effort, 2011's All at Once, rose to number 17 on the Billboard Albums chart , cementing their reputation as a serious rock act rather than a one-hit buzz band. They continued to tour relentlessly and collaborate with orchestras, as the group became known for its blend of rock music and orchestral arrangements, performing frequently with the Calder Quartet and also playing concerts with the Louisville Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra . Through subsequent releases like Such Hot Blood, the band weathered some lineup changes while Jollett, Chen, and Taylor remained the constant core, later joined by bassist Adrian Rodriguez and violinist Mimi Peschet.
The Airborne Toxic Event remains active today, still led by Mikel Jollett alongside longtime members Steven Chen and Daren Taylor. In 2020 they released their sixth LP, Hollywood Park, which served as the musical soundtrack to Jollett's memoir of the same name , and in 2024 they followed with their seventh studio album, Glory, supported by a full US tour. Nearly two decades after forming, the band continues to sell out shows and even hosts fan destination events, a testament to the devoted following they built during their explosive rise in the late 2000s. Their legacy rests on that rare mix of literary songwriting, string-laced arrangements, and anthemic live energy that made them one of the defining indie rock acts to emerge from the Los Angeles scene of the era.
It is fitting that this band lives on in the waynedennon.com archive, since their national breakthrough years line up precisely with Wayne's most active period behind the camera. Wayne photographed The Airborne Toxic Event at two shows between 2008 and 2010, right as "Sometime Around Midnight" was climbing the charts and the band was touring nonstop behind their self-titled debut, and the 54 photographs from those nights remain among the archive's most viewed, drawing 42,049 visits from fans revisiting that thrilling early chapter of the band's story.
