Fresno Famous

When The Airborne Toxic Event last played Fresno it was on a tiny stage at Tokyo Garden. A week or so later they appeared on the Carson Daily show, followed by an appearance on Jay Leno's show (or was it Jimmy Kimmel?) and Dave Letterman and Conan O'Brien. Also: They did a playing spot on "Gossip Girl."

My timeline is probably skewed some. Point is, they sort of struck it big with their first single and have since toured around the world, released a concert DVD from their sold-out show at the Walt Disney Conert Hall, and played a couple of big-time festivals. I saw them on the main stage at Coachella in 2009 (they'll be playing the festival again this year).

But they never made it back to Fresno (well, they did a bus lay-over here one night several year's ago). That changes in June 1, when the band plays Visalia's Fox Theatre with the Tulare county symphony. It will be a homecoming of sorts for drummer Daren Taylor, who used to play drums in several of my bands.

That's me name dropping. What of it? 

No word on when tickets go on sale, but I will keep you posted. In the meantime, follow this link to see the band covering the creepiest song of all time.