We are thrilled to announced that we will be returning to the first place we ever played a show for a very special benefit concert to raise funds for the Neda Project, a series of events we are doing with Amnesty International about Neda Agha-Soltan and digital democracy in Iran. 

The show will be in two weeks on May 25th, 2010 at the Echo here in Los Angeles. Tickets are very limited and will be first come, first served. They went on sale today at noon PST. They are $30 each. All proceeds will benefit the Neda Project. Here is the LINK to purchase tickets.

The Neda Project Neda Agha-Soltan was a young woman living in Iran—a student, who was shot in the street by government militia for participating in peaceful protests against the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadenijad. Her death was captured on video, uploaded to YouTube and within hours seen by millions around the world. She quickly became a symbol for the resistance and for the brutality of unchecked tyranny. 

Like millions of people, we were deeply touched by the video and the horrific treatment of Neda and her family by ...
[Read More...]]]> Good afternoon,

We are thrilled to announced that we will be returning to the first place we ever played a show for a very special benefit concert to raise funds for the Neda Project, a series of events we are doing with Amnesty International about Neda Agha-Soltan and digital democracy in Iran. 

The show will be in two weeks on May 25th, 2010 at the Echo here in Los Angeles. Tickets are very limited and will be first come, first served. They went on sale today at noon PST. They are $30 each. All proceeds will benefit the Neda Project. Here is the LINK to purchase tickets.

The Neda Project
Neda Agha-Soltan was a young woman living in Iran—a student, who was shot in the street by government militia for participating in peaceful protests against the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadenijad. Her death was captured on video, uploaded to YouTube and within hours seen by millions around the world. She quickly became a symbol for the resistance and for the brutality of unchecked tyranny. 

Like millions of people, we were deeply touched by the video and the horrific treatment of Neda and her family by the regime afterwards: the desecration of her grave, the intimidation of those who wished only to mourn her death, the allegations of torture of those who deny the government’s claim that it was a foreign plot that killed Neda and not the Basij. (A member of the Basij was caught red-handed on the scene and confessed. His ID was confiscated, though he was released for fear of punishment. He has not been brought to justice).

We wrote a song, called simply “Neda,” in tribute to her. We will be releasing the song and an accompanying video telling Neda’s story on June 8th, 2010 in preparation for the one-year anniversary of the disputed election of Ahmadinejad on June 12th and the one-year anniversary of Neda’s death on June 20th.

We will be asking you to participate in an online march as a statement of empathy from people living in the West with people living inside Iran struggling for their freedom and for people struggling for human rights everywhere.

Amnesty International has become our partner and will be involved in the benefit, the release of the video and the online march to follow. We will have more details in the coming weeks.

The Neda video was the first viral video to change the course of political events. Many people were killed in the violence after the disputed election. Neda’s death was caught on film. It awakened the world to the brutality of the regime and widespread resistance to it by the Iranian people. It’s one of the first examples of the democratization of broadcasting—that broadcasting is no longer solely in the hands of corporations and government, but in the hands of people. 

Anyone with a cell-phone camera and an internet connection can broadcast to the world. It means not only that the world is watching, but also, that the world is filming.

We’ll see you at the Echo. If you buy a ticket, we not only want your money for the project, but your participation, and we will be asking you to do a few simple but powerful things to support the project, to honor what Neda represents and to send a message that we stand with people struggling for freedom.

Mikel, Anna, Steven, Noah, Daren
the Airborne Toxic Event

http://www.theairbornetoxicevent.com

—

Again, that ticket link is HERE.

To see a video of Mikel announcing the show and the purpose of the Neda Project with Nazanin Boniadi, spokesperson for Amnesty International, click HERE, or watch it above.

For more information on Neda, click any of these links:

Amnesty International – News and Updates about Neda

Amnesty International – Postcard to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei (PDF)

Amnesty International – Iran: Stop Using Basij Militia to Police Demonstrations

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Bikes. Cops. A tour of L.A.’s East Side.. Check it out on YouTube.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Hoste

good afternoon–

The hazy sky over the San Gabriel mountains makes the view from the van window look like some sort of post-modern water-color mash-up: equal parts pastoral landscape and industrial wasteland. Such thoughts drift lazily through one’s mind on days like this.

We are on our way to Arizona to play a series of shows in Tempe, Tucson and Phoenix.

The official video for our song Sometime Around Midnight is now on YouTube. You can view it here .

You can also view it on our Myspace page and on MTV and VH-1.

You can listen to a stream of our appearance on Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW by going here .

You can watch us play a bunch of acoustic songs on LiveDaily by going here .

Our North American tour begins in 10 days in Cleveland. See you there (dates below).

More soon, including huge UK news.

we miss you and love you and find ourselves spinning in ever-widening circles of surreality–

Photo Credit: Benjamin Hoste

[Read More...]]]>

Photo Credit: Benjamin Hoste

good afternoon–

The hazy sky over the San Gabriel mountains makes the view from the van window look like some sort of post-modern water-color mash-up: equal parts pastoral landscape and industrial wasteland. Such thoughts drift lazily through one’s mind on days like this.

We are on our way to Arizona to play a series of shows in Tempe, Tucson and Phoenix.

The official video for our song Sometime Around Midnight is now on YouTube. You can view it here .

You can also view it on our Myspace page and on MTV and VH-1.

You can listen to a stream of our appearance on Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW by going here .

You can watch us play a bunch of acoustic songs on LiveDaily by going here .

Our North American tour begins in 10 days in Cleveland. See you there (dates below).

More soon, including huge UK news.

we miss you and love you and find ourselves spinning in ever-widening circles of surreality–

Photo Credit: Benjamin Hoste

Photo Credit: Jeff Koga

Photo Credit: Gary Bellville

Photo Credit: Classical Geek Theatre

TOUR DATES:

Aug 21 2008 7:00P Tempe Marketplace – EDGE 3rd Thu Tempe, Arizona
Sep 1 2008 8:00P House of Blues Cleveland, Ohio
Sep 2 2008 8:00P Mr. Smalls Theatre Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sep 4 2008 8:00P Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 5 2008 8:00P Roseland Ballroom New York, New York
Sep 6 2008 12:00 Virgin Festival – Island Park Toronto, ON
Sep 8 2008 8:00P St. Andrews Hall Detroit, Michigan
Sep 9 2008 8:00P Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio
Sep 10 2008 8:00P House of Blues Chicago, Illinois
Sep 11 2008 8:00P First Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 13 2008 12:00P Endfest – Marymoor Park Seattle, Washington
Sep 14 2008 3:00P Monolith Festival Morrison, Colorado
Sep 16 2008 8:00P The Wiltern Los Angeles, California
Sep 17 2008 8:00P The Warfield San Francisco, California
Sep 18 2008 8:00P House of Blues San Diego, California
Sep 24 2008 8:00P Exit In Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 25 2008 8:00P Parish Room @ HOB New Orleans, Louisiana
Sep 26 2008 8:00P Warehouse Live Houston, Texas
Sep 28 2008 8:00P House of Blues Dallas, Texas
Sep 30 2008 8:00P The Loft at Center Stage Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 1 2008 8:00P Cats Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina
Oct 2 2008 8:00P 9:30 Club Washington, D.C.
Oct 3 2008 8:00P Orpheum Theatre Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 4 2008 8:00P Webster Theatre Hartford, Connecticut