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TV on the Radio Make Waves at Montreal Jazz Fest

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Last night, at the 10-day Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Brooklyn’s avant-indie rock outfit TV on the Radio introduced an audience of smarty-pants fans and curious festival-goers to their white hot energy and brilliant noise. (Sadly, the large Metropolis venue was about half full, maybe because local heads Bran Van 3000 were playing a free outdoor show down the street.)

With frontman Tunde Adebimpe shaking his tambourine, all five members were blissfully lost in their beats from the first note. Playing songs from their wholerepertoire, with a large focus on 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain, they built a relentlesss sonic world that ranged from sparse and angular rhythms to layered and lush excursions.

Adebimpe proved a mesmerizing showman, dancing up a storm, as guitarist Kyp Malone wailed melodically on backup vocals and espectacled guitarist Dave Sitek strode around furiously like a comic book hero. Stills keyboardist Liam O’Neil, joining TVOTR for a few dates, assembled a small brass section for the affair, adding a sultry, gospel-tinged sophistication.

They saved the best for last though, launching into “Wolf Like Me” before an encore that morphed into a noisy, jam-happy free for all, concluding with sexy electronic thumper “Staring at the Sun.”

We Asked: It’s kind of funny that their name is TV on the Radio in an era where Internet is king. Which medium is your favorite way to receive media and information?

Read the fans’ answers >>
More photos from this show >>

We Asked: “It’s kind of funny that their name is TV on the Radio in an era where Internet is king. Which medium is your favorite way to receive media and information?.”

Back to the story >>
More photos from this show >>

TVOTR’s Kyp Malone (l) and Tunde Adebimpe / Photo by Richmond Lam

Frontman Tunde Adebimpe / Photo by Richmond Lam

TV on the Radio / Photo by Richmond Lam

Opening act Vivian Girls / Photo by Richmond Lam

Back to the story >>
Read the fans’ answers >>