LOS ANGELES, CA-
“… Honing their musical craft at the same time in the same city, TV On The Radio and Grizzly Bear are close. KCRW pairing the two acts on the same night couldn’t have been a better choice.
With a setlist that spanned their entire repertoire, it was a performance that gave TV On The Radio die-hards a complete experience. While Tunde may have jokingly noted somewhat uncomfortably that people were dining in front of him as the band ripped through their, he can rest assured that those hiding in the darkness of the upper decks were all emotionally in tune with band’s music and message, nodding their heads with emphasis to every downbeat.
While Tunde and Kyp are generally soft spoken in person, their performance was filled to the brim strong, timeless messaging. The band has been celebrating their 10 year anniversary of Dear Science, but their set consisted of only a handful of cuts (3) from their seminal album. Instead, it seemed like the performed songs intended to make a statement on the current social and political times. If you were eating a meal and chatting away with your friends during TV on the Radio’s performance, you may have missed out on that messaging. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about the meaning of songs, but I definitely took something away from the selection of songs.
My take? Exposing the apathy and hypocrites of the times (“Young Liars”), realizing the depressed state we’re in (“Lazerray”), the possibility that things can still change (“Golden Age”), reassurance that we’re in for a change (“Province”), the indifference of the times (“Happy Idiot”), and I could go on. It was a performance that was making a powerful statement, and I certainly hope that I wasn’t the only one to feel that way.
In a very honest moment, prior to singing “Shout Me Out”, Tunde said that the song was about the reality of climate change and how it effects the mentality of the populous before softly taking a jab at the opposition by saying, “But that’s not really happening, so this song is a lie.”…”
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