TV on the Radio, Albert Hall. 27th June 2025

I think it was October I was last in Albert hall, has it really been that long? That’s too long for one of my favourite venues, so I’ll thank TV on the Radio for bringing me here tonight. In fact it’s been less time since I saw TVOTR in London in December. They were worth every mile driven that night, but it’s nice to have them on home soil tonight. ‘Young Liars’ gets us going with groove based immediacy. The trombone soars with the band as Tunde keeps things tight. He’s ever the hype man, whipping the crowd up on ‘Golden Age’ as Kip takes the lead vocals. ‘Lazerray’ pushes the punk pedal as they start to flex and things heat up. It’s a full on attack and sounds pretty amazing. ‘Province’ slows things down as those of us down the front adjust to find a bit of breathing room. I’m thankful it’s not rammed. This ideally should be classed as a capacity crowd. ‘Dreams’ is all their energies blended together. Their vulnerability and pure power perfectly amalgamated. Jesske on bass knows it, she’s all smiles, feeling every note and I’m right there with her. Whether it’s songs that make Kip pogo and Tunde go nuts on ‘Wolf Like Me’, or tender gear changes with the smoke and heat rising from the stage through clouds of  softly probing lights on ‘Love Dog’, it’s all glorious. They’re a live marvel. Tub-thumping brass fuelled juggernauts evoke the atmosphere of a gospel punk revival on speed. On record they sound nicely produced, but they’re more raw live, which makes ‘Could You’ all the more exciting. This venue suits them  it expands and contracts to their needs. It’ll be interesting to see how they go at Glastonbury this weekend, but with songs like ‘Happy Idiot’ I think they’ll be fine. It’s crowd pleaser and makes Albert hall bounce as we hit the hour. “Are you hydrating?” Tunde asks the guy giving out water before the bass wallop of ‘DLZ’ makes my ribcage vibrate. It’s nasty and I really don’t want it to end, but I’ll take some of that water thank you. Tunde too seems charged as he’s surprised by the end of ‘Satellite’ ushering in the break. ‘Killer Crane’ though is the perfect reintroduction to the encore. Tunde’s voice is beautiful and allowed the space as this opens up. Everyone’s caught in the moment, even those with seemingly short attention spans. They close with ‘Staring at the Sun’ which once untethered explodes into a great disco banger finale, but ‘Trouble’ that precedes it is the anthem we need right now and what’s ringing in my ears as I write this. Fingers crossed that “Everything’s gonna be okay”.