Tunde Adebimpe of TVOTR (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)
TV on the Radio has been through a lot since their breakthrough sophomore record Return to Cookie Mountain. Outside of core members Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone and David Sitek, the band has experienced a lot of change in their lineup over the years. After Adebimpe recruited an unbelievably talented subway performer Gerard Smith to play bass and keyboards, they found their sound and released the three fantastic records that launched them to the level they sit at now. Tragically they lost Smith to lung cancer just weeks after Nine Types Of Light, their third album, was released. Understandably the band was quiet for a while, unsure if new music was even a possibility. Fortunately (at least for us) they released Seeds, an album arguable without mistake or misstep, towards the end of last year. Lucky for us, TV On The Radio came through Denver to play at the Ogden this past week, showcasing this incredibly strong new record.
I walked into the show right around 9:00pm excited to catch the opening act from Lost Angeles, Nostalghia, whom I have never heard of prior to that night. That wasn't a bad thing I assure you, I believe that a band makes their best first impression live. Rather than you slowly skipping through a record you've chosen at random, you get to see and hear the band how they choose to be presented. Wearing a skirt featuring a praying woman on the front paired with a golden bikini top reminiscent of Foxxy Cleopatra, it's hard to take your eyes off of front woman Ciscandra Nostalghia. To her right was Roy Gnan, manning a metal frankensteinian drum and sample pad kit, and to her left, Adele Stein playing a blood red electric cello.
Nostalghia getting things started (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)
On their website they describe themselves as “Electronic, experimental, avant-garde, punk, gypsy punk, apocalyptic gypsy punk.” Reading that out loud might not make much sense, but after seeing their set it’s surprisingly dead on (did i mention that "Apocalyptic Gypsy Punk" is now my new favorite genre?). Musically, I’m not sure this label describes what I experienced, but aesthetically? No band has even been categorized more accurately. The stage filled with smoke before the band took their positions followed quickly by the buzz of their amplifiers. For a live band made up of only three people - with only two of them playing - this was one of the loudest sets I’ve ever heard. They came out with a roaring power ballad that easily woke up the late arriving crowd, distantly reminding me of some odd combination of Evanescence and Trent Reznor. The sound coming from the cello was something in between metal rhythm guitar and bass, while Gnan was seemingly pressing every button at his disposal. The only sound I'm certain of was at the sampling some creatures wings flapping, panning left and right through the speakers at one point in the set. After a few songs, the group seemed to switch gears and went from being what I perceived as some type of experimental metal into something much more reminiscent of Bjork. I couldn’t stop my brain from trying to analyze everything that was going on - still unable to take my eyes off Ciscandra - all while anxiously anticipating what was going to happen next. This band is astonishingly difficult to describe but are certainly a group that I recommend you see for yourself. You might leave confused and bewildered, and maybe even mad, but you certainly will not forget Nostalghia.
Kyp Malone belting out lyrics (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
Finally it was time for TV On The Radio. This group is one of my favorite bands, yet for some reason or another I have never gotten the chance to see them live before. With almost an hour between the two sets, everyone the opportunity to get a couple more drinks in and sneak a few of drags off their vape pens as we waited. Eventually the group quietly emerged from backstage extremely casually and politely said "hi" to the audience. As they slowly got into position, the members started to create an ambient wave of noise and buzz which evolved into one of their earliest songs, "Young Liars" (found on the excellent EP by the same name). It was a 5 minute or so build into the song, and the end Adebimpe asked the crowd if we where ready to go on a ride with them tonight. As soon as the crowd finished their applause, the group immediately blasted into "Golden Age" with twisting, funky guitars and sexy trombone lines provided by touring bandmate and multi-instrumentalist Dave Smoota Smith. The group captivates you throughout their set using the aloof-yet-charm of their dueling front men. While Adebimpe and Malone often share and trade lead vocals from song to song, it’s Adebimpe who is running, jumping and flailing in every direction. After chatting up the crowd and checking in with everyone, the band jumped into the lead single off their newest offering, "Happy Idiot". It’s rare and incredible when a band feels completely locked into the music they’re playing so quickly into a set. Most bands you need a few songs or so for that to happen, but with TV you could visibly see that they got there halfway through the first track.
David Sitek at the helm of the command center (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)
Following "Happy Idiot" they stuck to tracks off Seeds for a while, showcasing a version of "Careful You" that featured wailing fuzzy guitar solos rather than the whirling synths on the record. Malone stroked his long graying beard and made sure we where ready for what was about to come next. The lights went off with only a few red stage lights showing on the performers. Pounding the audience with the opening drums from their breakout single "Wolf Like Me", the crowd went absolutely ballistic. Looking up at the mezzanine you could see people hanging over the railing passionately screaming the lyrics back at Adebimpe. Taking the single to different places than they mange on the record with slow downs and freak outs, they managed to keep the energy up from this point on until the close of their set. They politely thanked us and scurried off stage, followed by roars of disapproval from the crowd. TVOTR didn’t make us wait long to come back out this time. I know that an encore is pretty much a given at any show you go to now, which is great, but I still think the crowd should make the loud obnoxious effort to let the band know that we absolutely need at least one more song. Denver crowds have been accused of being a bit sheepish or too cool to show their love, but credit was where credit is due this particular evening, and TVOTR came back out to a an eruption of applause. They opened the encore with a 2 minute floaty intro into "Ride" getting everyone in the Ogden to sing back the chant-like lyrics.
TV On The Radio has been making records and playing shows for a surprising amount of time. You may not expect for them to have this level of excitement and commitment to a live show at this point in their careers. They’re a group of absolute pros nailing every song and giving every type of TVOTR fan something they’re looking for. Making the crowd not only feel welcome but apart of the show is an extremely underrated trait in a bands live show. This concert was sold out months in advance and for good reason. If you didn’t get to make it to this show I would encourage you to check out Nostalghia in some form just to see what it’s about. Luckily for us Coloradans TVOTR is coming back this July to open Red Rocks for ALT-J that makes for a must see concert this summer.
On their website they describe themselves as “Electronic, experimental, avant-garde, punk, gypsy punk, apocalyptic gypsy punk.” Reading that out loud might not make much sense but it’s surprisingly dead on. In addition Apocalyptic Gypsy Punk is now my new favorite genre of anything. But after their set I’m not sure it describes what I experienced; at least as far as the music is concerned. Aesthetically no band has even been categorized more accurately. The stage filled with smoke before the band took their positions followed quickly by the buzz of their amplifiers. For a live band made up of only three and only two of them playing; this is one of the loudest sets I’ve ever listened to. They came out with a roaring power ballad that woke up the late arriving crowd. A song that reminded me of some odd combination of Evanescence and Trent Reznor. The cello imitating something in between metal rhythm guitar and bass while Gnan was seemingly pressing every button at his disposal. Preloaded synth loops, electronic drums and some where just sounds. I know at one point in the set they where sampling some creatures wings flapping that panned left and right through the speakers. After a few songs they seemed to switch gears and went from being what I perceived as some type of experimental metal into something much more reminiscent of Bjork. I couldn’t stop my brain from trying to analyze everything that was going on but again I was unable to take my eyes off Ciscandra and what was going to happen next. This band is too difficult to describe but something that I recommend you see for yourself. You might leave confused and bewildered and maybe even mad but you will not forget Nostalghia.
Now it was time for TV On The Radio; one of my favorite bands that for some reason or another I have never had a chance to see live. They did make us wait with almost an hour between the two sets. Which wasn’t the worst thing because it allowed everyone to get a couple more drinks in and to sneak a few of drags off their vape pens. Eventually they did come out from backstage extremely casually and politely said hi. As they slowly got into position and started to create an ambient wave of noise and buzz that slowly evolved into one of their earliest songs, "Young Liars", which you can find on their excellent EP by the same name. It was a 5 minute plus slow build and at the end Adebimpe asked the crowd if we where ready to go on a ride with them tonight. Immediately after our applause they blasted into "Golden Age" with twisting funky guitars and sexy trombone lines provided by touring bandmate and multi-instrumentalist Dave Smoota Smith. They continued to take us on the ride they asked if we where ready for by bringing down the energy a bit. They managed to captivate throughout using the aloof charm of the dueling front men. While Adebimpe and Malone often share and trade lead vocals from song to song it’s Adebimpe that is running, jumping and flailing in every direction. After chatting up the crowd and checking in with everyone they band jumped into the lead single off their newest offering "Happy Idiot". It’s rare and incredible when a band can feel completely locked into the music and set they’re playing so quickly. Most bands you need to allow a few songs or so for that to happen but with TV you could see they got there halfway through the first track.
Following "Happy Idiot" they stuck to tracks off Seeds for a while; showing us a version of "Careful You" that featured wailing fuzzy guitar solos rather than the whirling synths on the record. Malone stroked his long graying beard and made sure we where ready for what was about to come next. The lights went off with only a few red stage lights showing on them. Pounding us with the opening drums of their breakout single "Wolf Like Me", allowing everyone to go ballistic. Looking up at the mezzanine you could see people hanging over the railing screaming passionately the lyrics back at Adebimpe. Taking the single to different places than they mange on the record with slow downs and freak outs. Subsequently keeping the energy up until the closer of their set, "DLZ", another standout track from Dear Science. They politely thanked us and scurried off stage being followed by roars back from the crowd. TVOTR didn’t make us wait as long to come out this time. I know that an encore is pretty much a given at any show you go to now, which is great, but I still think the crowd should make the loud obnoxious effort to let the band know that we absolutely need at least one more song. Denver crowds, while not always, can be accused of being a bit sheepish or too cool to show their love. But credit where credit is due TVOTR came back out to a an eruption of applause and picked up their guitars. They opened the encore with a 2 minute floaty intro into "Ride" getting everyone in the Ogden to sing along the chant like lyrics.
TV On The Radio has been making records and playing shows for a surprising amount of time, so one might not immediately expect the group to still showcase this level of excitement and commitment for live shows at this point in their careers. It is certainly clear to any viewer that they’re a group of absolute pros, nailing each song and giving every type of TVOTR fan something to loo forward to. Making the crowd not only feel welcome but apart of the show is an extremely underrated ability many bands do not possess, but this concert was sold out months in advance for good reason. If you didn’t get to make it to this show I encourage you to check out Nostalghia in some form just to see what it’s about. Luckily for us Coloradans, TVOTR is coming back this July to open for ALT-J at the renowned Red Rocks Amphitheater, making it one of our must-see concert this summer.
Contributor: Ben Simorka
Images: Matt Smith