April 2007, 40 Watt, Athens, Ga.
TV on the Radio is a great melting pot, from the musicians in the band, the music the band plays and the influences all this shares. The Brooklyn (of course) band includes one of the better frontmen in indie music, as Tunde Adebimpe has a passion and vocal styling you don’t usually hear.
The bands TV on the Radio cite as influences (Pixies, Earth Wind and Fire, Wire, Bad Brains) are as varied as the ones they’ve worked with (David Bowie, Trent Reznor, Blonde Redhead). It was still touring on the strength of its second album Return to Cookie Mountain, a dynamic record considered by many to be one of the best of 2006.
The thing about the 40 Watt is that is can seem both small and large, depending on the crowd. A packed show at the Watt makes getting across the floor a near impossibility. It was impossible to get across the floor on this night — it felt like the crowd knew they were catching the band at the right time, in a place perfect for it to play.
The lights dimmed and Tunde led the guys out, which included David Andrew Sitek (guitars/keyboards/loops), Kyp Malone (vocals/guitars/bass/loops), Jaleel Bunton (drums/vocals/loops/ guitars) and Gerard Smith (bass/keyboards, and who unfortunately died in 2011.) The eerie sounds of Tonight seethed out of the speakers and Tunde, with help from Kyp, started in with the song’s soothing lyrics. With a faint light behind him, Tunde leaned into the crowd watching his every move.
The band reached back into 2004’s Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes and 2003’s Young Liars for a couple of songs, including “The Wrong Way,” “Blind” and “Staring at the Sun,” but the bulk of the show was Cookie Mountain.
The night’s highlight, without a doubt, was the combination of Province and “Wolf Like Me”. It must be comforting for a band to have a song it can go to and just know the crowd will lose it — and this is what “Wolf Like Me” will always do. Province makes for a nice lead in to the song, Tunde croons from the start — part Prince, part Beck (I know) — and the steady beat throughout allowed the hurricane that is “Wolf Like Me” to knock the crowd off its feet.
There wasn’t a person not moving frantically during “Wolf Like Me,” it was like a siren blasting, ensuring everyone’s full attention. Tunde was running a 10K on the 40 Watt stage, rocking back and forth, and the crowd simply lost it. I’ve seen this a couple of times at the Watt, and let me tell you, few moments are as thrilling.
The show, on what I remember was a warm April night, left everyone spent. The good ones always do.
