TV On The Radio live June 12th @ The Forum Theatre, Melbourne.
In the country for Sydney’s annual festival for the senses, Vivid, TV On The Radio blew the roof off a sold out Forum theatre on Friday.
Opening the evening was the always experimental, often controversial, Kirin J Callinan. Dressed in the purest of white Indian traditional garments, he crooned, yelped and growled through an eclectic collection of songs accompanied by his keyboardist (whose hat resembled an acorn, or was that his hair?).
For the uninitiated in the room, the opening set might have seemed more performance art than music, and rightfully so as his blippy, distorted electronica backing, frenzied avant-garde delivery, uber-processed guitar and wild vocal stylings hurtled around the room with so much energy that there was barely time to reflect upon what had just happened before something else remarkable came flying at you.
The climax of Callinan’s set came in the form of what he simply referred to as ‘The Toddler Song’. Performed A Capella as his set closer, this tormented lamentation on the need for sustenance and a sense of belonging was surprisingly hilarious, as the freakishly tall and thin Callinan stalked around the stage taking on the persona of a love-deprived infant, albeit one with an advanced understanding of the human psyche and a deep baritone, intermittently pausing for laughs from a thoroughly entertained crowd.
A rapturous applause saw a smile creep across the face of each member of TV On The Radio as they assuredly walked on stage to take up their instruments after the brief intermission. A band that has managed to sustain such success throughout their near 15-year career doesn’t do so without maintaining a solid connection to their audience. Vocalist Babatunde Adebimpe took a moment to acknowledge this and welcome the crowd, then from that moment they were on.
Opening with one of their oldest hits, ‘Young Liars’, with its vastness and slow-burning crescendo, TVOTR introduced attendees to an unapologetically energetic and career-spanning show.
One of TV On The Radio’s biggest strengths, of which there are many, is their ability to remain consistent yet refreshing in everything they do. A point proved when they followed their opener up with Lazerray, a boisterous and balls-to-the-wall rocker from new album Seeds. Though stylistically TVOTR have evolved and matured over the years, their signature elements have stayed the same and have been refined to achieve maximum potency.
[include_post id=”448063″]TVOTR seem to be making a point of this when they perform another combination of old and new in Golden Age and current radio favourite, ‘Happy Idiot’. Although these songs are seven years apart, they are both up-tempo yet melancholic and both push a solid groove while the melodies work their way permanently into your brain. There is, however, something more personal and urgent coming from ‘Happy Idiot’, as if Adebimpe’s harrowed cries of ‘it’s been a long way down’ signal a more exigent need to be heard than ever before.
In fact, the new material from Seeds sees TVOTR in career-defining form. The hooks are catchier, the instrumentation more considered and impactful, the energy more focused and the sincerity with which they perform out of this world. Taking the crowd through three new tunes in a row: ‘Could You’, ‘Careful You’ and ‘Winter’ could each easily be their next radio hits and, in a live context, all metamorphose into much more sonically commanding songs than they are on record.
The approach this band takes to performing live is indeed something to admire. Dave Sitek straps wind chimes to his guitar headstock and uses a DJ mixing console to mess with his keyboard. Jaleel Bunton used to be the band’s drummer, now he plays bass, keys and guitar… because talent. Kyp Malone shares near-equal vocal duties all while somehow managing to be one of today’s most unique guitarists. Each and every member of this band is here to serve the song, and the audience.
‘Wolf Like Me’ turned the floor of the Forum into a scene reminiscent of any indie nightclub on Saturday at 2am, as people jumped around and sang wildly out of tune to one of the last decade’s biggest alternative hits. It was clear the audience’s reaction was more than the band expected as Adebimpe had to stop and take a moment to appreciate the spectacle before him mid-dance. The crowd then had a chance to recover while singing happy birthday to drummer Jahphet Landis.
Working their way towards the end of their set, TVOTR showed no signs of calming down. Even the slower, acoustic ballad ‘Trouble’ didn’t lack energy as the whole crowd mimicked Adebimpe’s wails of ‘Everything’s gonna be ok’, a unifying moment for band and crowd alike that signaled the night coming to a close.
After a full hour of intense cardio workout and powerful melodic singalongs, TVOTR left the stage presumably to drink some water and have a quick lie-down before treating the now screaming audience to a three song encore. Ending the evening with ‘Dancing Choose’ and ‘Staring At The Sun’, the crowd was rewarded for their years of support by one of the world’s most unique popular bands whose output seems to reach greater heights with every release.
Check out the full gallery from the gig here.
