TV On The Radio and The Noisettes at the Belly Up

I almost didn't make it to this show. I originally slept on buying tickets at the Belly Up but was adamant about not going to the Henry Fonda to see TV On the Radio. Thanks to Craig's list and a guy named John, I managed to trade my extra Bloc Party ticket for tickets to TV on The Radio at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. What a trade it was. The Noisettes by the way of the U.K. came up first with their hodgepodge style of noise funk punk rock. Shingai Shoniwa (Vocals, Bass, guitar) was a dynamo onstage easily commanding the audiences attention as she sung and screamed her heart out. I was particularly impressed with her Fender Jaguar Bass that she pummelled without a pick. Shingai also would switch to guitar and rock away without a pick as well. They will be back at the Troubadour in June for those whose who are intrigued. I have seen TV On the Radio back in 2004 for the shortlist awards and was impressed. TV on the Radio also opened some of the summer shows for Nine Inch Nails in 2006 but played for thirty minutes to a sparse crowd. This show was vastly different as it was a packed house inside a dimly lit club. Unfortunately, an announcement was made that the band requested that no photos be taken during the performance. This was okay because I was spellbound throughout their entire set. Tunde Adebimpe (Vocals) gave an other worldly performance as he lost himself in the music and belted out the opener of "Young Liars". He would sample phrases of his voice with a Line 6 Delay Modulation pedal or a Digitech Jamman and play it back while he was singing. David Sitek (Guitars) had 2 Line 6 Delay Modulation pedals that were eminating a storm of feedback guitar washes running thru 2 amps. "Wolf Like Me" was simply phenomenal and spine tingling at a loud concert volume. Kyp Malone (Guitars) also had a Line 6 Delay modulation pedal to augment the wall of noise. During "A Method", various members from the Noisettes came out to add percuasion as David was pounding on a snare drum. As they closed with the hypnotic "Staring at the Sun", I wondered why they aren't one of the bigger bands around.