Photo Credit: Sara Bill
In the film that accompanies 2011’s Nine Types of Light, there’s a flash forward sequence that finds the five TV on the Radio members sitting down at a diner to discuss their new lives since the album release and subsequent time apart. All their situations are inherently goofy. One’s a dojo owner, another’s the creator of a failed Bush Administration on Ice show, Kyp Malone’s a Peanuts-themed LARPer, and lead singer Tunde Adebimpe has basically become a Prince impersonator. But as funny as the sequence comes across, it’s painful to re-watch since bassist Gerald Smith died of lung cancer 12 days after the video was uploaded to YouTube. It’s a surprise that the band stuck it out after such grave personal tragedy, which they refuse to talk about in interviews, to finish touring behind the album.
The band went there separate ways for a while. Dave Sitek produced albums by Santigold, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and CSS, among others, Malone began the solo project Ice Balloons and Adebimpe moved to Los Angeles and formed Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band. It was never guaranteed that they’d reconvene, so when they announced a new album, Seeds, last July, the news came as a relief. The cycle of breakups and reunions makes it feel like no band is ever truly done for good, but TV on the Radio, with its members just entering their 40s, still had gas in the tank.
“It’s been far too long,” Adebimpe said at the open of TV on the Radio’s sold-out performance at the Pabst Theater last night. “We’re happy to be back.” There was a carefree, come-when-you-like approach to recording the latest record and that wandering free spirit vibe was felt immediately during the show. An esoteric and ethereal prelude started things off, and for the first couple minutes it seemed as if the band might just play a night’s worth of Phish jams. But that hippie aesthetic didn’t last long—other than the radiant light show—as TV on the Radio eventually kicked into gear and pumped out a searing rendition of the early track “Young Liars.”
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Seeds is far more mellow and pop-oriented than anything else in the soulful, post-punk outfit’s catalog and that rubbed off during the live show as well. The energy still emanated during old cuts like set closer “Staring at the Sun” and the absolute euphoric “Wolf Like Me,” but the pace slowed down during some of the newer selections. “If you’re not feeling alright, bust this song out,” Adebimpe said as an acoustic guitar strummed the opening chords to “Trouble”—an acoustic guitar! He sings “Everything’s going to be okay” and “Don’t worry, be happy” throughout what could conceivably be a Bob Marley cover. It’s not one of TV on the Radio’s finest, but the sentiment completely fits in with the band’s current perspective: Enjoy everything you can right now because you won’t have it forever.
