The Louisville Orchestra brings two bands to Whitney Hall on a Saturday in January to try and heat up their season. Neither The Airborne Toxic Event nor Calexico have ever performed with a full orchestra, but both groups evidently know how to fill a house.
The Airborne Toxic Event has quickly developed a reputation for cathartic, wailing live shows, reaching the usually stoic East Side L.A. indie rock crowd on a gut level. Sing-alongs have become the norm at their shows. It is not uncommon for the band to throw thirty tambourines into the crowd or for Harmon or Bulbrook to jump into the ruckus among a chorus of handclaps as Jollett screams from the stage while the audience screams back. Before the band even had a label, a publicist or even a manager, “Sometime Around Midnight,” unexpectedly started being requested and played again and again on KROQ in Los Angeles, the biggest rock radio station in the world and the highly respected Indie 103.1 had suddenly started playing it too. Over the last few years they have grown an astonishing following worldwide and perform to sold out shows regularly. Hot off of their performance at Lollapalooza they are now booked with the Louisville Orchestra in January.
There’s always been intrigue and adventure at the heart of Calexico. Naming themselves after a town near the California/Mexico border, they’ve spent the eighteen years since they met in Los Angeles mapping out musical territory that had otherwise been neglected or at the very least considered the preserve of historians.
Single tickets range from $29 - $62 and are available by
calling 502.584.7777 or by visiting LouisvilleOrchestra.org.
