Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms were packed full with a bustling crowd eagerly awaiting The Airborne Toxic Event (TATE) on the first night of their UK tour.
Compared to a couple of years ago when they played to a quarter full Birmingham O2 Academy, I was pleased to see that people are finally taking notice of this fantastic band.
With no support acts, TATE opened their set with All I Ever Wanted quickly followed by their latest single, Numb.
The audience were enthralled. It was hard to know where to focus your attention with such a busy five piece outfit filling the stage. Even more so with this multi-talented quintet who switch instruments with each other between several songs.
They have a somewhat wild stage presence between them as they each get seemingly lost in the music. The whole atmosphere is heightened by the chemistry between the five of them as they create this sensational cacophony.
I’ve always found the sound in the Rescue Rooms to be bass heavy and unfortunately tonight was no different. The instruments fared well but the vocals suffered slightly. Luckily overall this had very little effect on the incredible sound of TATE.
Mikel showed off his playful side as he teased the crowd along during the opening of Happiness Is Overrated whilst the sheer passion and tenacity of Gasoline demonstrated just how much these guys love performing.
They played a handful of songs from their forthcoming second album, including the stunning All For A Woman, the poignant The Kids Are Ready To Die and Changing, which was indicative of their new album being ever so slightly heavier than their debut in places.
They finished off with Innocence before returning for an encore. Beginning with Papillon, followed by Missy, which they seamlessly blended into a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire and ending with the title track of their new album out later this month All At Once.