It was impossible to know exactly what to expect from TV on the Radio — the most acclaimed American alt-rock band of the 21st century — when it came to town this time around.
The band’s world was rocked hard last month when bassist-keyboardist Gerard Smith died from lung cancer on April 20. Smith, who joined the group in 2005 and made important contributions to the band’s last three albums, was 36.
In the wake of his death, TV on the Radio postponed a batch of its gigs, including a two-night stand at San Francisco’s Independent. The rescheduled Bay Area dates on Monday and Tuesday were the band’s first public performances since the loss.
Not surprisingly, the vibe walking into the Independent on Tuesday, the second night of the local stand, felt a bit heavy. Everyone knew about Smith’s death, but they were also probably aware that the Brooklyn band had been touring without the keyboardist-bassist in the lineup well before his passing. So, this version of TV on the Radio — utilizing a fill-in drummer and with multi-instrumentalist Jaleel Bunton covering most of Smith’s parts — was already battle-tested.
Once the band took the stage on Tuesday, launching into a 90-minute set that stretched past midnight, the vibe changed considerably. It was clear from the start that band members didn’t intend this to be some type of a wake. Instead, it was an awakening, reminding fans of all that is possible, but rarely achieved, in indie-rock.
In other words, it felt like your typically enthralling TV on the Radio show.
This band has been so good for so long that it’s almost easy to take it for granted. That might explain why its recently released fifth album, “Nine Types of Light,” hasn’t generated the same adoration as its previous two outings — 2008’s “Dear Science” (considered by many the best rock album of that year) and 2006’s “Return to Cookie Mountain” (even better than “Dear Science”).
The group is nothing less than America’s answer to Britain’s Radiohead — a comparison strengthened by the name of TV on the Radio’s 2002 debut, “OK Calculator” (a clear homage to Radiohead’s 1997 masterpiece, “OK Computer”). And if TV on the Radio is as good as Radiohead in the studio, it’s arguably even better in concert.
Led by the equally charismatic and manic vocalist Tunde Adebimpe, TV on the Radio took fans on a hair-raising run through its impressive catalog. Its brilliance comes from an ability to take experimental art-rock sounds and twist and turn them into readily identifiable song types, from soulful power ballads to feet-friendly dance numbers.
Selections such as “Red Dress” (from “Dear Science”), “Will Do” (“Nine Types of Light”) and, most spectacularly, “Wolf Like Me” (“Return to Cookie Mountain”) manage to perplex and impress. It’s hard to break down the individual sounds — is that a sampled loop punched in by David Sitek or something that Kyp Malone is conjuring on electric guitar? — and it’s difficult to understand what Adebimpe is singing amid the buzz-saw mix.
Not that it matters all that much. This is music that alternates between entertaining the head and moving the feet, but it always manages get you in the gut. That’s why we should still be talking about TV on the Radio years after its contemporaries fade from our thoughts.
Read Jim Harrington’s Concert Blog at http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/category/concerts. Follow him at http://twitter.com/jimthecritic.
