TVOTR are a band I have mentioned before on these pages and quite rightly so. Their latest album easily earned them a spot on my best of 2008 list and is still on heavy rotation at Cougar Microbes HQ. Having missed their previous London shows I was delighted to have bagged a ticket for Brixton Academy (no sponsor mention): one of my favourite London venues.
Did they live up to my (admittedly heightened) expectations? The short answer: YES!
The band crept onto the dimly lit stage, unassuming and unpretentious, and eased into the quieter track ‘Love Dog’ – an original way to open a show. As the song intensity grew (and with it the light show and band performance) so did the crowd reaction. On this note, it is worth mentioning that the audience was a well balanced mix of old and new fans alike demonstrating if it was ever needed that TV On The Radio have a vast appeal.
The set borrowed heavily from ‘Dear Science,’ featuring no fewer than 8 of its 11 tracks with the audience enthusiastically shouting every word. Clearly others were as impressed as I was by the new material. Sadly ‘DLZ’ didn’t make it this time but in compensation we got a thunderous rendition of ‘Wolf Like Me’ , a firm crowd favourite, in amongst the older gems.
At times the vocals were slightly muffled in the mix but this didn’t subtract from my overall enjoyment with a particularly intense ‘Red Dress’ sounding thunderous. Being joined by members of support band The Noisettes for 2006’s ‘A Method’ and ending with a rave-like rendition of ‘Staring At The Sun’, complete with big beat and raving crowd, was a nice touch and meant Brixton was vacated by a euphoric crowd.
I love it when a plan comes together!
MP3’s:
TV On The Radio – Red Dress
