TV On The Radio at Islington Assembly Hall

Islington Assembly Hall, 10 December 2024

My last gig of the year! And it was a good one too, as I got to see the recently reunited TV On The Radio on the first night of their three night (sold out) run at Islington Assembly Hall and what a return it was!

The band have done similar runs in Los Angeles and New York but the London shows are the last of this short tour. It almost felt fated when they announced these shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, as earlier this year I had re-discovered their albums (in particular Return To Cookie Mountain and Dear Science) and wondered why I never went to see them live. When I was lucky enough to get a ticket (not surprisingly they sold out straight away), I was excited I would get to right that wrong and at a fairly small venue too to boot. 

Each night, there was no support act rather a different DJ playing a set and tonight was no exception, with a cool looking girl with a red afro quietly walking on stage and putting on some headphones. This pretty girl was called Tash LC, a young DJ from South London who apparently is also a presenter on Kiss FM. I will be totally honest and admit I have little experience or knowledge of DJs and seeing them live, in fact I think the last one I actually remember seeing was DJ Shadow supporting Radiohead way back in the 90s! But I was swayed by her cool reserve and smiles, as she discreetly grooved to the music, and her interesting mix of beats and African and world music. Initially I was only merely curious about her set but she drew me in with her affecting mixture of sounds, and while we probably weren't the ideal crowd for what she does, by the time she had finished I was left impressed by what she does.

It's been five years since TV On The Radio last played live and ten years since their last album Seeds (and almost as long since their last UK show: two nights at the Roundhouse back in 2015), so there was a lot of anticipation for this show and you could feel it in the air. When the band finally took to the stage after 9pm, one woman beside me at the front went absolutely ecstatic and I get it, tonight totally felt like an event. 

Frontman, Tunde Adebimpe, has been concentrating on acting in recent years (although he has his debut solo album coming out on Sub Pop next year) and I've just been watching him in the latest Star Wars series The Skeleton Crew, so it was surreal to see him stroll on stage with a big smile, looking larger than life. Guitarist/vocalist Kyp Malone also looked amazing in a rainbow-coloured outfit and his long, white beard (giving Kim Thayil vibes, always very cool), while guitarist Jaleel Bunton had to be one of the coolest dudes I've seen in a long time wearing a cardigan (Kurt Cobain may well have been the last).

Original bassist Gerard Smith sadly died back in 2011 of cancer, but tonight Jesske Hume plays bass and I always appreciate seeing a woman in the band. Rounding out this excellent line-up is longtime drummer Jahphet Landis and keyboardist/trombonist Dave Smoota Smith, although original member Dave Sitek declined to tour this time but apparently remains a member of the band.

The set began slowly building with atmospheric sounds as they found their stride, Adebimpe whistling and crooning as the guitars finally got louder in the storming opening song Young Liars, that saw Malone jumping up and down and Adebimpe coming to the edge of the stage, throwing his arms around and his head back as he sang his heart out. It was an incredible way to start the show and the crowd understandably went crazy.

In contrast Golden Age was super groovy, with Adebimpe clapping and swinging his hips, always a magnetic presence and so fun to watch, as he switched between striding the stage and going to his soundboard (I assume that's what it's called), to add effects to his vocals, and swirling his arms in the air as he sang "coming round, coming round!"

It was all delightfully noisy and angular with a soulful edge and lots of punk rock energy. The woman next to me almost seemed in a daze of excitement from it all (although she may well have been on drugs! Even the band noticed how much she was into it) and Adebimpe constantly had to wipe his brow with a towel, as he energetically sang and gave each song his all.

There was a lot from Dear Science tonight, which was great for me having listened to that album a lot, with the droning guitars of Halfway Home and singalong chorus, sounding particularly joyful while DLZ sounded rousing and almost anthemic. During Dancing Choose, Adebimpe climbed over to the amps on the side of the stage to be closer to the crowd and directly faced us as he yelled out the rap-like chant in the verses of the song: it was completely thrilling and sounded awesome. 

Of course probably the most exciting moment came when the band played Wolf Like Me, the lights going absolutely crazy, and Adebimpe giving it all, bumping his chest and throwing back his head, as people in the crowd sang along. It's probably their most famous song and even all these years on it still sounds so fresh and electrifying. I've listened to it so much over the years, it felt incredible to finally hear it live and have it live up to its promise. How amazing too that they would place it in the middle of the set.

After this, Malone shouts "free Palentine!", which got an enthusiastic response from everyone, before launching into a soulful and pure Crying and Love Dog, the last song from Dear Science, was so sweet and sounded so lovely with its shimmering guitars, these two songs were the perfect contrast to the more loud and brash numbers.

Throughout the band seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing at private jokes and grinning between songs. When someone shouted for Lazerray, the band laughed and said no, "Next time," said Adebimpe. "It would make you so sad if we played it now." And when they left for the obvious encore, Bunton told us "we're just going off to have a band conference". Upon returning he quipped "we had the band conference and we've decided to play some more songs."

The encore saw Adebimpe dedicating Killer Crane to poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, who died the day before, and hearing the gentle strum and Adebimpe beautifully singing "sunshine I saw you through the hanging vine, a memory of what is mine fading away" sounded even more meaningful and powerful. He certainly gave the song a lot of emotion and it was especially affecting.

Trouble from their last record, Seeds, gave a hopeful moment, as Abebimpe almost tearfully but optimistically sang out, "everything's going to be okay, or I kept telling myself, don't worry be happy, oh you keep telling yourself."

Interestingly, given this reunion came because of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, there were only two songs played, with Malone and Adebimpe swapping vocals on Dreams earlier in the show, through a rage of distorted guitars. But they left the best for last, with the pure tense energy of Staring At The Sun, bringing us full circle, which had both Malone and Abebimpe jumping up and down, and was the perfect, thrilling way to end the show.

As Abebimpe left the stage, he thanked us and said, we may be seeing the band again "sooner than later" which bodes well for their return. But if not, I'm truly thankful I finally got to see them in such a small venue and absolutely at the top of their game. What a fantastic band they are and what an exciting frontman Abebimpe is. I'm so glad they decided to do these shows and I got to experience them live at long last.