Weekend Review: TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio

Henry Fonda Theater

March 31, 2007

After watching the Bruins get thoroughly dismantled once again by the Florida Gators, going to a concert was the last thing I wanted to do. Even if it was a concert by one of the most promising, exciting bands around today.

Yet TV on the Radio, which released its second full-length album, “Return to Cookie Mountain,” in September, proved in the end to be not just shockingly good therapy after a crushing loss, but also one of the better concerts I’ve attended in some time.

TV on the Radio often get classified as an “experimental” band, a term that is quickly becoming the hipster equivalent of calling everything one can’t classify “alternative.”

And truthfully, the band can be difficult to label, as its songs range from atmospheric, dreamy noise-rock (“Young Liars”) to fast-paced, synth-infused rock (“Wolf Like Me”) and downright doo-wop (the cover of the Pixies’ “Mister Grieves” on “Young Liars”).

But to call TV on the Radio experimental, in my mind, does the group a great disservice. Looking at the term “experimental” itself, it seems to imply that the group is tossing out a bunch of ideas like wet socks to a wall, trying to see what will stick. Namely, it suggests the group is riding blind and every melody, chord progression and arrangement is a blind shot in the dark.

But upon seeing TV on the Radio in concert, it’s clear that there’s a method underneath the band’s amalgamation of sounds and influences. And a potent one at that.

Opening with a throwback to the past, the group began its set with “Young Liars,” the title track off the group’s first EP. And as Tunde Adebimpe’s soft, soothing voice filled the theater behind a wall of synthesizers, suddenly Joakim Noah’s jack-o’-lantern-esque grill was the last thing on my mind.

The group tore through a set that pulled mostly from “Cookie Mountain” in what seemed like record time, in spite of the fact that the group played for about 90 minutes.

Perhaps this was because Adebimpe and the other band members went fairly light on any interaction with the audience until the show had nearly ended, instead settling into a steady groove and cranking out song after song. While this would sometimes suggest that a band finds itself above talking to its fans, TV on the Radio’s detachment caused the show to come off more as a private performance for every member of the audience.

The strongest point of the set came roughly in the middle, as Adebimpe and company ripped through some of the best tracks from “Cookie Mountain,” including “I Was A Lover” and “Wolf Like Me.” It was easy to get caught up in a dreamlike state as one song fed into another, if dreamlike could describe standing and rhythmically swaying in place to a succession of bouncing, shifting beats.

For the encore, Adebimpe seemingly did his best Scott Weiland impression (i.e. bringing out a megaphone) before the group closed with “Staring at the Sun,” one of its best, signature songs. Combining all of the disparate elements that come together to create TV on the Radio’s unique sound (Adebimpe’s soulful vocals, Gerard Smith’s steady bass lines and a plethora of loops), the song served as a fitting closer to the night and a coherent example of what the many different layers of an “experimental” band can produce when combined.

If TV on the Radio is going to be classified with a term that suggests improvisation for improvisation’s sake, then perhaps every band should take this Jackson Pollock approach to songwriting.

E-mail Humphrey at mhumphrey@media.ucla.edu.

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