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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > May > 18 > Entry
Live review: TV on the Radio at Stubb’s
First, the TV.
TV on the Radio singer Tunde Adebimpe is a stellar frontman. Saturday night at a packed Stubb’s, he danced around the stage and sang with one arm flailing, his movements varying between metronome and the more obtuse time-keeping of a free jazz drummer - you sort of knew when the arm was going to flail out, but it was always a cool surprise when it did. As this band keeps on its upward popularity swing, his thick, squarish eyeglasses could become as iconic as Kanye’s preppie chic or Tim McGraw’s hat. He’s a riveting guy to watch and he’s about 90 percent of the band’s live stage presence.
Now, the radio.
I have seen TV on the Radio a handful of times in Austin and once at Lollapalooza — not once has the sound been any good. It’s tough to tell if this is the band’s design or if it’s just Austin, a town with far fewer good sounding rooms than the sentence “the Live Music Capital of the World” should indicate.
This was no different at Stubb’s, a venue with a usually reliable mix.
While TV on the Radio albums try to blur sound sources — is that a guitar? A synth? Tunde’s voice? — live, it turned into a baffling smear with Tunde’s vocals, sometimes treated, often raw, vanishing in and out of the mix. Opening with “Dirtywhirl,” lyrics were largely imperceptible, which is too band for a band that has prided itself on wordy smarts. Songs came alive when there was a groove that could be perceived all over the venue, kicking things up a notch, but mostly the sound coming from the stage blended smeary guitar, a sax and ambient bass. From the level of chatter in the crowd - rarely low at outdoor shows, but especially noticeable here - few outside of those at the front of the stage could be bothered to pay attention to the music. (For the record, outside of the first few rows, the sound seemed least awful on the stairs near the stage left bar.)
Even those who enjoyed it seemed surprised by the band’s short set, which lasted an hour, plus a three-song encore. Feel free to insert “this food is terrible and portions are too small joke here.”
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By tcap
May 18, 2009 12:24 PM | Link to this
the review is right on - the sound totally blew, they only played an hour and 14 minutes total (including encore) and the completely annoying group of drunk girls next to me needed to get a clue that they were at a show to LISTEN to music. This is a noticable trend in Austin - people going to shows for a social experience and not to actually see a band or listen to them. Even the frat boys next to us (at a tvotr show) were completely over it.
By Spivey
May 18, 2009 2:36 PM | Link to this
I love this band but I had the same experience at Coachella this year during their set. WWWAAAAAAYYYY too much bass that just took over the songs and the other instruments just ended up blurring together, but not in a good way. Kind of sad and I hope they don’t become a band that just puts out fantastic records but can’t pull it off live.
By otto
May 21, 2009 7:27 AM | Link to this
Yip. Exactly right. I so wanted to LOVE this concert because I love the tunes and the stage presence. But you couldn’t hear much. It was a mess. (By the way, Little Dragons suck — horrible band — and their bass was WAY too dominant.)