2011年 06月 28日 火曜日 08:03

27 June 2011 - TV on the Radio, Academy 2, Manchester

If one thing was made patently clear last night it’s that TV on the Radio certainly are not a band still in mourning. It’s only been two months since bass player Gerard Smith sadly passed away but his bandmates to their credit seem to have taken that huge blow in their stride if their on stage performance is anything to go by. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe and guitarist Kyp Malone spent the evening joking between songs with the crowd and their fellow members (paraphrasing: Tunde - “did anyone here come from that big muddy field?” Dude in crowd - “WE HATE GLASTONBURY” Tunde - “i’m glad someone said it”) and fending off requests for a cover of Ghostbusters which they have been performing of late.

TVOTR kicked things off with the slow crescendo of 'Young Liars' to an initially motionless audience. By the time Tunde was yelling “HEY DESPARATE YOUTH! OH BLOODTHIRSTY BABES” at the end of their next song, 'The Wrong Way', the crowd was finding it impossible to avoid nodding heads and tapping feet. This was majorly due to Jaleel Bunton’s funk-laden bass lines who’s effortlessly moved from drums to bass. The Brooklyn band’s songs really take on an extra level of ferocity when performed live. Cool/hip/popular guitarist/producer/friend of Scarlett Johansson Dave Sitek intensely strummed the shit out of his guitar for most of the night giving the live renditions a little more power than their recorded counterparts.

Towards the end of their varied set comprised of numbers from practically all their albums and EPs (save for early experimental effort ‘Ok Calculator’), Tunde switched on a red flashing-light atop his synth signalling the start of a furious finish to the performance. A sped-up rendition of early hit ‘Staring at the Sun’ segued into an extended version of super catchy ‘9 Types Of Light’ standout ‘Repetition’ before a ridiculous performance of ‘Wolf Like Me’ capped off the main set. By this point the audience was going fucking crazy screaming out the “WE’RE HOWLING FOREVER” refrain so loudly Tunde gave up on singing and simply held the microphone out over the audience. In the encore they played a cover of ‘Waiting Room’ by Fugazi and ended the night with ‘Satellite’ from 2003’s Young Liars EP. The only way the night could have been any better was if they played ‘Blind’ from the same record instead.

Set List: Young Liars / The Wrong Way / Caffeinated Consciousness / Blues From Down Here / Will Do / New Cannonball Blues / Dreams / Province / Red Dress / Keep Your Heart / Staring At The Sun / Repetition / Wolf Like Me // Encore: Waiting Room (Fugazi cover) / Dancing Choose / Satellite