Peggy Lee sang:
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?
Clearly Peggy Lee did not see Subtle live. Had she, she would have known that what she saw is not all there is to a circus and that appears to be what Subtle have set about proving.
Comprised of a drum kit, a drum machine, keyboards, and an odd electric cello, and high-pitched rapping vocals- Subtle achieved full shock value with the crowd in attendance.
They launched their set by going straight into a song, and from there in between each song they provided borderline absurd entertainment by means of useless trivia-such as New Jersey is the world's second largest producer of egg plant, and other odd randomness.
On stage they had an assortment of props for added embellishment while they performed. At one point their lead singer Adam "Doseone" Drucker threw a multitude of plastic forks into the audience.
At the end of their set "Doseone" proclaimed that he had killed something, then exposed an hour glass to the crowd, before asking "What will you kill?"
Those were the words the audience was left with until TV on the Radio took their place on the stage after a lengthy soundcheck.
The first thing I noticed is that it felt like I was watching a concert. A really really great concert, but still a concert. And that is something I never feel when at a TV on the Radio show. You don't feel like you're watching one, but that you're apart of one. I just kept thinking back to the last time they were in Portland, supported by Grizzly Bear at the Wonder Ballroom. When they played 'Dirty Whirl' so few in the audience actually knew it, but everyone sang along. Even after TVotR had stopped singing the audience still was for at least a minute after them. They stood back and watched and it was a pretty surreal moment. This time at the Roseland, the song was again performed amazingly- sparse in the beginning with Tunde singing and recording and layering vocals over vocals to create the music before the rest of the band kicked in- but with no audience participation. The audience also seemed a bit allergic to dancing.
But then TV on the Radio whipped 'Blind' out of their bag-something I have never seen then perform live and it no longer felt like a concert-it felt like a true experience. Originally from their Young Liars EP, live they developed the song into something much more blues-y, raw and rich. Tunde free styled a bit- making up verses on the spot that enhanced the song so much that it became a new entity and has become my favorite.
For their encore they paraded onto the stage with members of Subtle in tow as well as a band members' dad and a couple roadies banging on drums for good measure. At this point Kyp handed instruments into the audience and it surpassed everything that they had created in their set just minutes before. Everyone seemed to be feeding off the energy-band and crowd alike through encore opener 'Method' and next onto 'Let the Devil In'.
It was an all out display of the creation of music. It reminded me a bit of when Frog Eyes joined Wolf Parade on stage for a few final songs back in the summer. David Sitek poured bottled water onto his and the drummer from Subtle's drums and water went up like a fountain when they started banging away which only increased the immediacy and originality of what everyone was watching.
Over the course of the night, Tunde made a habit of introducing songs by made-up titles-introducing one song as something else then saying "kidding- this song is called 'Cascades'" before actually launching into 'Wolf Like Me'. He followed this pattern for introducing their final song of the night 'Staring at the Sun' which seems to be the only song they close with now, and rightfully so.
Jaleel, sporting freshly shorn locks, really amped up his drumming for the song so that it sounded so much like and had the beat of a repetitive dance track which only enhanced the song further. During this song is when the real crush began-people finally moving and dancing and coming alive-as TV on the Radio should be experienced.
Far before that point I gave up comparing it to the magic that they had achieved at the Wonder Ballroom because tonight, but especially in the moments of the encore, they gave this night a magic of it's own.
'Blind' TV on the Radio MP3
Click for my flickr set for more photos from the night
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