TV on the Radio in Prospect Park

On August 11th, 3 friends and I traveled to Brooklyn after work to see the much anticipated TV on the Radio concert in Prospect Park. A little history first. This would be my second time at Prospect Park and my second time seeing TV on the Radio. It was in October of last year when I first saw them at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia where they put on a fantastic show. And it was in the summer of 2008 when I first took part in the concert experience at Prospect Park seeing Spoon for the third time.

I had high hopes for this concert for multiple reasons. First and foremost, TV on the Radio is fucking awesome. They are one of the most unique bands out there today and they have released 3 kick ass albums and a couple legendary EP's. They also hail from Brooklyn so anytime you have a band playing in their hometown, you expect the show to be special. Think like No Doubt's "Live in the Tragic Kingdom" performance in their hometown of Anaheim. The concert should have a little extra juice. And finally there was my friend Jeff who had seen TV on the Radio play at Prospect Park in 2006 and described it as possibly one of the best shows he has seen (maybe only topped by Radiohead at All Points West last year.)

So now it is 2009 and the city is sweltering. Arriving at the venue, there were three things very noticeable. The amount of Brooklyn hipsters, the unbelievably shitty sound of the band playing before TV on the Radio (think like Animal Collective but worse), and the practically unbearable weather. We got pretty close to the stage and only had to wait about 30 minutes before they came out. But god it was hot. It was dark by the time the show started (8:50 pm) it was in the 80s with high humidity and no wind. So I will say the heat definitely drained me, but it didn't seem to stop TV on the Radio.

In what would be a performance dominated by their newish album "Dear Science" (2008), they opened with "Shout Me Out", which when I saw in Philly, stood out as one of their better songs in the concert. While this was their opener, it was a great start to the show and the jump off point for a performance full of unkempt energy and vigour. Definitely a good warm up.

They next moved backward to "The Wrong Way", their opener on their 2004 debut album Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes. Funny story about this album. Our school radio station had a poster of this album and for a year it nagged at me. Finally toward the end of the year, I decided that I had to be in possession of this and took it down from the wall, walking away like nothing was wrong. I am a better person because of this.

Anyway the show moved on. I was never really a fan of the song but you could tell the show was about to get serious. They came back hard with three in a row off their new album. Starting with the epic "Halfway Home" which is one of their most powerful sounding songs. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe puts it all together in this one and the song climaxes at the end with Tunde bobbing around and chanting with guitars blazing. They just hit their stride.

They followed this with "Golden Age", which might of been the best song in the show. The horn section in the concert really added to their sound and it definitely became noticeable in this funky number. Tunde probably sounded his best in this song as his vocals seemed to tire as the concert was winding down. "Crying" was next and I was very impressed with the horn section in this song which carried the song. One of the better songs of Dear Science, this was the first time I saw them perform the song live. They did not disappoint. Props to the sax guy for beasting the end of the song.

Now it was time for the big guns. No matter how many times I have heard it, "Wolf Like Me" might be the best song of the decade. Woah woah woah Ms. Lippy! Yea that's a serious claim but I could defend it. Plus you really cant say that about any song, but it truly is an ultimate legendary banger. I feel like they always play this song in the early parts of their shows because it must suck all the energy out of them to perform. The one thing about the show that was such a contrast from the Green Day concert was the lack of energy from the crowd. Now I understand that it was literally a sauna outside, but the only thing missing from this song is the crowd jumping around going completely nuts.

They came down from this uber high with "Red Dress." A song of the new album, I never really listened too much but was impressed with live. Then another knockout blow came. My friend Jeff and I agree that "Young Liars" is "not their best song but it really it." However you wanna interpret that, i dont really know but this one was mesmerizing. The song in itself is flawless. The slow and building intro, all the instruments coming together, Tunde softly howling into the mic. The sound just swells and comes together. The song possess some of TV on the Radio's best lyrics and the flow is awesome. Another highlight of the concert.

Now I am not completly sure about what followed but my guess is that "Staring at the Sun" was next which is probabaly one of their most well known songs. While it wasnt as memorable as the time they performed it in Philly, it was still the shit. Tunde put a little extra into this one, dancing all over the stage.

After a brief pause where some of the band members talked to the audience, "Blues From Down Here" was played. I don't really like this song and by this time, the heat was getting to me. They had been on for less then an hour but I was exahusted. I assumed that TV on the Radio wasnt gonna be on for too much longer. They dont usually play for very long and I could only imagine how hot they were on stage.

I did enjoy the end of the set where they played two bangers off of Dear Science. "Dancing Choose" was first which is just a really fun song. They followed with "DLZ" which was awesome. Probably my favorite song off the new album. Just a really cool song and even better live.

After about a 5 minute break and the crowd stupidly chanting one more song (Fuck you guys, they will definitely play more than one, don't settle! Concert rooks!), they came back on. The encore started with "Family Tree", a lackluster song from their new album. They made up for that waste of a song with "A Method" which my friend Eddie would say was the best of the concert. They brought out like 20 people, including kids to help them with the percussion in the song. Just a really cool scene for a cool song.

The concert closed with the classic banger "Satellite" which I was very happy they played. Tunde and the band revved it up one more time for this one.

So after about an hour and twenty minutes they were done. The last time I saw them I was kinda upset they didnt play for that long, but it was ok this time. They play with such high energy plus the heat was brutal. Overall a great concert minus a couple of things. I wasnt crazy about some of the songs they played. The last time I saw them, the set list was a lot stronger. There were a couple songs that they didnt play that I was really pissed about but what can you do. I think the count was 8 of 11 songs off the new album

Another thing I was a little picky about was the sound. Maybe the mics werent loud enough or all the other instruments were too loud but it seemed that Tunde's vocals were being swallowed by the sound. I'm not totally sure but his vocals werent as crisp or tight as I would of hoped.

Overall a great show. It doesn't top Green Day but I dont really know what can.

Top of the head TV on the Radio Lists:

Best Albums: 1. Return to Cookie Mountain 2. Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes 3. Dear Science

Best Songs at the Concert: 1. Young Liars 2. Golden Age 3. DLZ

Songs I Wish They Played: 1. Province 2. Dreams 3. Love Dog

Fellow concert friend and Blog contributer Jeff Feldman contributes his lists as well

Best Albums: 1. Return to Cookie Mountain 2. Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes 3. Dear Science

Best Songs at the Concert: 1. Golden Age 2. Young Liars 3. Satellite

Songs I Wish They Played: 1. New Health Rock 2. Tonight 3. Province

It's the Weekend!

(Props to Brooklyn Vegan for the Pics)