On May 20 TV On The Radio made their return to New York for a performance at the beautiful Kings Theatre, right up there with Baby’s All Right as my favorite new venues in New York. The show was the first of two for them in the city last week, with a night at Terminal 5 in Manhattan coming the following night.
The show came in support of their 2014 album Seeds, and was much different from when I saw them last winter at a much smaller performance at at Music Hall of Williamsburg. No matter, as the group filled out the much larger Kings Theatre with the level of finesse and intensity that you come to expect from the talented group.
The set spanned across their now lengthy catalogue, with newer cuts such as “Happy Idiot” and “Lazerray” fitting in perfectly alongside older cuts, like “Golden Age,” “DLZ,” and “Wolf Like Me,” the latter which frontman Tunde Adebimpe dedicated to David Letterman. This show took place during the day of Letterman’s final Late Show, and the band made sure to give their thanks to Dave, acknowledging how much he helped their career. It was no mistake that they made this tribute during “Wolf Like Me,” as their performance of that song really gave them a boost, and remains to this day, one of my favorite performances on Letterman ever.
They closed out the regular set with a collaborative version of “A Method,” joined by openers Bo Ningen, who used their beer cans and anything else they could find on stage to help add a bit of additional percussion. They followed it up with a three-song encore that ended with a perfect performance of “Staring At The Sun,” sending the packed house home on the perfect note.
I ended up catching TVOTR again just a few days later at Boston Calling. Those photos will be coming soon. For now, enjoy the Kings Theatre photos below, along with the setlist.
1. Young Liars
2. Lazerray
3. Golden Age
4. Happy Idiot
5. Could You
6. Winter
7. Wolf Like Me
8. Careful You
9. Trouble
10. Repetition
11. DLZ
12. A Method (with Bo Ningen)
Encore:
13. Ride
14. Dancing Choose
15. Staring at the Sun
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