TV On The Radio @ The Palace,Melbourne (16/11/2011)

Mon 21st Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Eastern Seaboard cool emanates from TV On The Radio’s set tonight almost as loudly as the brash guitars and swirling keys resonate from the stage. From the accidentally, meticulously planned hipster black rimmed glasses through to the cover of Fugazi’s Waiting Room in the encore, there is an American stamp all over this performance that only serves to make it all the more enjoyable. For a band that formed in the ashes of the twin towers, it’s appropriate that TVOTR’s music bears all the hallmarks of the post millennium New York emotional landscape: Pain? Yes. Catharsis? Certainly, but also undoubtedly an air of irrepressible belligerence that manifests as riotous celebration.

Take for example, David Sitek and Kyp Malone (a man with arms far too thick to possess a falsetto that sweet) strumming frantically at the chords of Repetition while lead singer Tunde Adebimpie slithers joyously around the stage like a snake on pills. Not that the compositions lend much to a dancefloor atmosphere, but with a more direct approach than on record and elements of reggae dancehall and post-punk permeating the set list, the night slow builds from hazy introspection into unadulterated party mode.

Long time fans of the band will have been happy to see old school stompers such as Staring At The Sun from Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes make it into the evening’s 90 minutes. Newcomers too should hopefully have appreciated a balanced set list that allowed the band to feature everything from Adebimpie’s musical magic box to the tinkling wind chimes hanging from the headstock of Sitek’s guitar. For all their exploration though, it’s obvious that the strings are the mortar that holds this house together, whether chiming out indiscriminately to the haunted melody of I Was A Lover or performing more direct manoeuvres to Wolf Like Me.

It’s the latter that predictably draws both the loudest cheer and the most energetic dance moves from the patient crowd. Luckily, this is a song well worthy of the exuberant response and is even more impressive live, shed of its excess sonic elements and going at full pace straight for the jugular. This caps an hour of ever evolving musical exploration that owes its intensity and value of interest to its creator’s genius almost as much as it is indebted to their ability onstage to make some very challenging compositions very, very enjoyable.