The Airborne Toxic Event has announced today’s premiere of “Come On Out,” the first single from their eagerly awaited new album, HOLLYWOOD PARK. The track is available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Uniquely, HOLLYWOOD PARK arrives alongside a new literary work of the same name by Mikel Jollett, to be published by Celadon Books, a division of MacMillan, on May 5. Hollywood Park: A Memoir sees Jollett chronicling his extraordinary personal journey, from his early childhood in one of the most infamous cults of the 1970s, through a childhood of poverty and emotional abuse, before finding his voice as an artist among the confusion of an adult life spent nursing the wounds of childhood, and the redemption which came from looking inward and an acceptance of self and the fierce love of family. Pre-order Hollywood Park: A Memoir HERE.
The Los Angeles-based band’s sixth LP and first new music in half a decade, HOLLYWOOD PARK arrives Friday, May 8 via Rounder Records; pre-orders are available beginning today HERE.
“I mostly grew up in the wreckage of the cult where I was born, since we left when I was so young. It came to me like a puzzle I had to put together, almost like separate realities with different rules. So I wrote the songs on the record (and the book) from that perspective: that of a child trying to piece together the reality of the changing world around him; because that’s how I experienced it: like a mystery I couldn’t quite fathom that I had to piece together over a lifetime,” says Airborne Toxic Event founder and front-man Mikel Jollett.
Hollywood Park: A Memoir has already been hailed as a milestone work, with Newsweek declaring it one of “40 Must-Read Fiction and Nonfiction Books to Savor This Spring,” writing, “(Mikel) Jollett was raised from childhood in a cult, brought up under the leaders of Synanon. With stunning clarity, he tells of his mother’s escape and the subsequent trials his family endured.” “A shocking but contemplative memoir about the aftermath of an unhealthy upbringing,” declared Publishers Weekly in a starred review. “Jollett also talks about turning pain into music, getting help for abandonment issues, and finding love and starting a family.” O The Oprah Magazine named Hollywood Park among “The 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (So Far),” writing, “The front-man of rock band Airborne Toxic Event chronicles, in gorgeous and exacting lyricism, his harrowing coming-of-age within (and eventual escape from) the Church of Synanon, a violent religious cult.” ABC’s Good Morning America included Hollywood Park: A Memoir in its own “20 Books We’re Excited For In 2020,” writing, “What comes through the pages is a story of fierce love and family loyalty. This moving and profound memoir is for anyone who loves a good redemption story.”
The Airborne Toxic Event will celebrate HOLLYWOOD PARK with a truly epic live schedule, including a new series of US headline dates, beginning October 9 at Los Angeles, CA’s Greek Theatre and then traveling through the month with highlights including a much-anticipated visit to New York City’s historic Beacon Theatre (October 22). In the meantime, the already announced first leg of the tour gets underway May 27 at The Van Buren in Phoenix, AZ and continues into the summer, culminating with a once-in-a-lifetime performance backed by the San Francisco Symphony, set for August 1 at San Francisco, CA’s Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall.
In addition, The Airborne Toxic Event will herald the arrival of HOLLYWOOD PARK with a pair of four-night-stands at Los Angeles, CA’s El Rey Theatre (March 31, April 1, 2, 4) and New York City’s Bowery Ballroom (April 7-10), with all eight shows sold out within 30 seconds of ticket release. As if all that weren’t enough, the band will make a top-billed festival appearance at Cleveland, OH’s Wonderstruck on Sunday, June 7. For updates and more, please visit www.theairbornetoxicevent.com/shows.
Produced and mixed by the band’s longtime collaborator, multiple GRAMMY® Award-nominee Mark Needham (The Killers, Fleetwood Mac), HOLLYWOOD PARK serves as both companion volume and musical soundtrack to Jollett’s remarkable memoir, adding vivid sonic color to his wrenching and ultimately life-affirming personal chronicle. Indeed, both the album and book were fueled in large part by the untimely death of Jollett’s father. Devastated to his very core, he withdrew from both the world and his work for nearly a year before ultimately finding the strength to begin anew.
Jollett will be traveling on a wide-ranging book tour slated to visit independent bookstores through mid-May, beginning Friday, May 1 at Los Angeles, CA’s First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and then making stops across the country including a special publication day event at New York’s world famous The Strand on Tuesday, May 5. For all ticket links and up-to-date information, please see https://theairbornetoxicevent.com.
MARCH
31 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre SOLD OUT
APRIL
1 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre SOLD OUT
2 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre SOLD OUT
4 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre SOLD OUT
7 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom SOLD OUT
8 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom SOLD OUT
9 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom SOLD OUT
10 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom SOLD OUT
MAY
27 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren
29 – Austin, TX – Emo’s
30 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
31 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
JUNE
2 – Kansas City, MO – Truman
3 – St. Louis, MO – Del Mar Concert Hall
4 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
5 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
6 – Charlotte, NC – Underground
7 – Cleveland, OH – Wonderstruck *
9 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
10 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
12 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
13 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts SOLD OUT
14 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
16 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
17 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
18 – Detroit, MI – St Andrews Hall
19 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre SOLD OUT
20 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
22 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
23 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
26 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox SOLD OUT
27 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
28 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
30 – Sacramento, CA – The Ace of Spades
JULY
1 – San Diego, CA – Observatory
AUGUST
1 – San Francisco, CA – Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall (w/the San Francisco Symphony)
OCTOBER
9 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
10 – Crystal Bay, NV – The Crown Room
12 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
14 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Black Sheep
16 – Tulsa, OK – Cains Ballroom
17 – Omaha, NE – Waiting Room
18 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
19 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
20 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
22 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
23 – Rochester, NY – Anthology
24 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
25 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
27 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
28 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
* FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
MIKEL JOLLETT
HOLLYWOOD PARK: A MEMOIR
BOOK TOUR
MAY
1 – Los Angeles, CA – First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
2 – San Francisco, CA – First Unitarian Society of San Francisco
4 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Joseph’s College
5 – New York, NY – The Strand
6 – Washington, DC – GW Betts
7 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre
8 – Boston, MA – CitySpace
9 – Austin, TX – Book People
11 – Chicago, IL – Everybody’s Coffee: Wilson’s Abbey
12 – Denver, CO – Tattered Cover (Colfax)
13 – Seattle, WA – Town Hall
www.theairbornetoxicevent.com/shows
