TV on the Radio, November 6 at the Wiltern

A TV on the Radio show can be a lot to take in. Even if you're familiar with their music (and that can be a lot to ask for since there's so much going on in every song, and usually so much weirdness, as beautiful and mesmerizing as it can be), they still change up every track in concert like they're mixing it for the first time. It can be a challenging experience but rewarding if you can get into it (which isn't always a guarantee). Very bass-heavy music, very unpredictable, and very experimental, which is what I love about it but it's better to put it on in the background and let it crawl into your consciousness, rather than giving it your full attention all at once. It also didn't help that the sound in the place couldn't make the vocals less muddy but it might have just been the disadvantage of being in the balcony, where I was (since it took me so long to get around to getting a ticket. I didn't think the floor would sell out but it did, though I didn't mind being able to sit during a show). It wasn't a bad performance, it was just hard to get into. I can't say I recognized too many of the songs, or they were just remixed beyond recognition (though of course I could discern personal-favorite "Hours," crowd-pleaser "Wolf Like Me," and closer "Staring at the Sun," which sounded better in San Diego). I couldn't find a set-list online but in the reviews of it I read, apparently Karen O and Nick Zanner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) came out on a stage (and I didn’t recognize them), along with a crowd that included openers the Dirtbombs, to play along to one of the songs.

The Dirtbombs were a revelation. Playing dirty scuzz-rock that didn't quite seem to fit the environs of the Wiltern (especially since the sound-system in the place couldn't handle the volume) but they were great. No fat on their bones and they tore through it. I've rarely understood the need for two drummers, especially if they're playing the same thing (not one drummer then a percussionist) but they know better than me. For fun, at the end of their set, each member left the stage individually, first the singer then the guitarists, breaking down and taking their instruments with them as one drummer took his floor tom and jumped into the audience while playing it, the other drummer keeping the beat. Then, when their own instruments were cleared, the rest of the band came back to break down the remaining drummer's kit, while he was still playing and the other drummer was standing on the bass drum and helping keep the beat. They kept taking parts of the drum kit away, one piece at a time, until it was just the drummer with the last of it and then they were done. It was a fairly silly gesture but something I've never seen and a lot of fun. I would like to see them again, hopefully in a bar or small club, which would be a lot better suited for them, if not for the headlining band as well.