I Radio Heaven

I managed to score a ticket to the indie wonderkids TV On The Radio a couple weeks ago (thank you, U of W and Kirk). TVotR is one of those bands that I should like very, very much but I actually don’t appreciate at all. Either I just don’t understand them or they’re overrated . . . hmm. Anyway, they have a much ballyhooed live show that I was hoping would win me over. Well, it didn’t. The band is fine, but they’re not really blowing me away. They played a bunch of new stuff which was again fine–just not awesome.

The next night was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I’ve been following these guys for years now, since I caught them opening for Spiritualized at Club Dada waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day. That show was so good that I didn’t see them again for years. I was afraid of tainting the memory of it, and I didn’t like their new albums nearly as much as their debut. Last year’s Baby 81 redeemed them, and I happily caught them at Bumbershoot 2007 as well. Once again, they delivered. It was a shockingly good three hour set that still left me with a list of songs they didn’t play. That, my friends, is the sign of a good band.

If you follow my Twitter, you know that I was incredibly amped for the Toadies.  It wasn’t just me, though - I was crammed into the Showbox with a crowd of people that didn’t think this would ever happen again. (The Toadies have been broken up for longer than they were together).  I’ve seen a lot of shows — a lot — but I’ve never been to one where you could tell that the crowd has been waiting ten years to hear a band whose CD’s they’ve had to replace at least twice due to overuse.  One would think that there was no way a band could meet such wildly high expectations, but let me just say:  met and exceeded, my faithful readers.  They sounded great; the new material fit right into the canon and the old stuff sounded as good as ever.  This show easily rocketed towards the top of my all time list.  If The Toadies make it to your neck of the woods, GO. 

My month finished with the Cold War Kids last Monday.  They’re also promoting a new disc, Loyalty to Loyalty.  It’s a great follow-up to Robbers and Cowards.  Their sound matured and progressed without losing their ethos (I’m talking to you, The Killers, Bloc Party, and Kings of Leon).  My favorite part of their act is that they’re four guys on a stage that only sound like four guys.  They don’t create a massive wall of sound (Muse); they all have a part and they play it with a minimum of excess and a maximum of timing.  CWK have been constantly touring for 3 or 4 years and it shows in a big way.  They’re the perfect combination of loose but very very tight.