About a month prior to this show, I had met the band's two singers Tunde Adembipe and Kyp Malone after they played on the fire escape of the Ed Sullivan Theater. After they performed "Dancing Choose" they both told me that playing up on the fire escape was also very weird and strange for them. And so a pattern was established and I realize now that this recurring theme of playing in strange locales is all part of a transitioning phase that the band now finds themselves in. After the release of their critically-acclaimed new LP Dear Science, accompanied by their exponentially growing fan base, the band is in a situation where they’re playing in places they’d never thought they’d play before (which are sometimes "weird" or "creepy"), while simultaneously experiencing fame they never thought they’d achieve.
TV on the Radio opened the first of three consecutive shows in a row at the Masonic Temple with the expected choice of “Halfway Home”, which came thundering out of the speakers and filled the murky, haunting space with ravishing layers of sound. The majority of the one hour and 45 minute set was appropriately filled with songs from Dear Science (in my opinion is their finest effort). The highlight of the show was the hand-clapping romp of their new single “Golden Age”, which fittingly became almost a spiritual experience in the temple. The band also had assistance from the terrific horn section from the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, whose presence was embraced by the audience and who helped to quicken heart rates during songs like “The Wrong Way” and “Dancing Choose”.
The band was impressive on every level, confidently integrating a slew of creative instrumentation choices with more typical rock band play mechanics. Whether it was David Sitek hanging wind chimes from the end of his guitar, Gerard Smith creating atmospheric sound from his Apple Macbook, or Tunde Adebimpe’s skillful fiddling with his mixing board, the band was doing things that few other bands both try and succeed at. One of the highlights of the show was their performance of “A Method” off of their 2006 album Return To Cookie Mountain. Adebimpe's anthemic vocals were backed by every member of the band playing a different percussive instrument, from jingling bells to wood blocks to others I'd never even seen or heard before. I felt like I was back in elementary school music class, being shown how a range of different instruments can make all types of different sounds. The show concluded with the “Staring at the Sun” off of their first album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, which proved to be an invigorating finale.
After the show, I was fortunate enough to stumble into Adebimpe as he exited the temple. I shook his hand and mentioned how 2008 has been such a huge year for him, with the release of debatably the best album of the year as well as his role in the much-lauded new Jonathan Demme picture Rachel Getting Married. His gratitude towards my praise was both sincere and genuine. While it seems like it would be hard to eclipse a year like this, that’s exactly what the band has done with their newest release after album-of-the-year marks for Return to Cookie Mountain two years ago. TV on the Radio is a band with limitless potential and an endless desire to boldly explore new sonic terrain, and for that reason they will surely stand the test of time as one of the most important bands of the decade.
TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
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1 comment:
Well played Sauw, way to get out there and actually meet these people. Far different from the Sauer hiding in Evans' apartment closet afraid to show the public he was drinking a beer.
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