TV on The Radio...How I love thee.....

How do I love TV on the Radio? Let me count the ways. The inspiring band just finished up three sold out nights at the Masonic Temple in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and I was luck enough to experience it in person. The Brooklyn based band, who released their Dear Science LP last month, is known for their live performances, so I was excited when we scored tickets to see them a few times during their stint at the Temple. TVOTR is possibly one of my favorite bands of all time and most definitely listened to way too much in my house recently. They have an uncanny ability to bridge rock, dance and artsy music and tones into one very harmonious package. Their new album mixes dancey and funky, like “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age”, with quieter and softer sounds of the band, like “DLZ” and “Halfway Home”. Tunde Adebimpe, the charismatic front man and Kyp Malone, the guitarist/vovalist, riled the crowd up with assistance from Gerard Smith, keyboardist/bassist and fellow Purchase alum, guitarist and producer Dave Sitek and the incredibly talented drummer, Jaleel Bunton. Though the set list remained mostly the same for all three nights, they did move the songs around a bit and I think last night, Thursday, had to be the best performance out of all of them. While they played many songs of the new dance and sing along friendly album, they continue to pull out their hits “Satellite” and “Wrong Way”. This go around they had a backing band in addition to their lovely friend Katrina from Celebration, who provides a few back up vocals and their own full instrumental arrangement. The crowd was awesome all of the nights, dancing up a storm and proving that good music nowadays can be appreciated by all. As a fan, I was beyond impressed by the performance level from TVOTR and their increasing musicality. The band not only manages to let you know they are good what they do, but that they love doing it as well, which is a rarity nowadays. They are able to have the toughest dudes singing along to the smoothest Prince like grooves. I for one am excited by a mature dancey band bringing it back to New York City. I was getting so used to dashing off to Fort Greene and watching them play well into the night, that I am not sure I will know what to do with myself. Please do yourselves a favor and check out this band before they get too big. (More pics to follow)

Here is a live performance from September outside the David Letterman show: