A decade of TV On The Radio at Atelier

By Patrick Cameron

Tuesday night finally saw the arrival of TV On The Radio as they took to the stage in Luxembourg for the first time at den Atelier. One of Brooklyn’s finest bands over the last decade, TV On The Radio were at the forefront of a host of New York bands bursting onto the scene back in the mid 2000s.

Huge critical acclaim followed each release, with 2006’s “Return To Cookie Mountain” becoming a seminal album of the decade but a hiatus at their height in 2009 put a stop to all momentum they had built up.

After only a short break they would come back with “Nine Types of Light” in 2011 but would sadly lose their close friend and bass player to cancer just days after its release. Last year’s “Seeds” was the first release with the new line up and back with a more urgent sound.

First up last night was Belgian duo “Stacks” who flirted between the lines of pop and electro. It all worked best when they kept to their darker electro groove, which sounded a bit like Will Butler singing over a John Carpenter track, which worked for me.

Then time for TV On The Radio to take to the stage. And they took us straight back to 2003 with the title track from their “Young Liars” EP. It’s was a brooding build up with keyboard, soft cymbal splashes and wind chimes slightly knocking together as they hung from the neck of Dave Sitek’s guitar, letting the intro engulf the room before it all boiled over as the heft of the guitars came stomping in all at once and off went frontman Tunde Adebimpe flailing his arms in the air like a man possessed.

The energy and tempo never really dropped throughout the night and with ‘Lazerray’ coming next, they were straight out the blocks, now kicking into their inner punk sound. That is what made TVOTR exciting all those years ago, they never really confined themselves to the one sound they would blend their mix of indie rock, soul, blues and punk with a dozen other genres into something magic.

Next up was “Golden Age” off 2008’s Dear Science album, a groovy expansive dance track that enticed the crowd into a clap along and a dance with Adebimpe.

Of course the biggest cheer of the night came as the drums for “Wolf Like Me” started to kick in, phones held aloft and people started to get those dancing shoes on. Live it was rawer and more urgent, keeping up with their punkier edge to their tracks for the evening.

They finished up the set with the “Dancing Choose” and “Staring At The Sun” during which Adebimpe’s vocals soared and sent us away remembering just how great a frontman and band TVOTR were and still are.

The set did not rely too heavily on their seminal work of the mid 2000s. They are a band known for pushing the boundaries, which has held them in good stead, unlike many songs from a decade ago, none of their songs sounded dated. They sounded just as fresh as last years “Seeds” album.

Visit the TV On The Radio official website: www.tvontheradio.com

Take a read of Patrick Cameron's other reviews in his very own dossier:   Patrick's concert news & reviews 

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