TV On The Radio performed at The Riviera Theatre tonight in an XRT Show. It was the Brooklyn band’s first Chicago show since their 2007 appearance at Lollapaloza.  They’re now touring following last month’s release of their new album Dear Science. TVOTR is one of the most original bands over the last few years. They combine gospel, blues, doo wop and noise rock. Pretty unique mix.

Tonight it was all on display along with a few surprises like a woman back-up singer for a few songs and a full horn section that featured a couple Chicago players. The set was a mix of songs from their debut EP and first two albums along with a lot of the new material. Dual lead singers Tunde and Kip traded off soulful vocals while guitarist and producer Dave Sitek stayed off to the side pretty much by himself laying down the buzz saw noise that is always at the core of the band’s sound. Stage set was cool with lights that sometimes gave the appearance of a star filled sky. Having seen the band before at The Empty Bottle and a few times at Metro, I’m not sure if the jump to the larger Riv worked for the band’s sound. The vocals were lost in the noise on a few songs but it all came together on TVOTR favorites like “Wolf Like Me” and “Staring At The Sun.” The newer songs like “Crying” suffered the most from the sound, although “Dancing Choose” rose above the noise. The horn section provided  a highlight during the encore by going up to one of the opera boxes and playing over the railing that prompted many in attendance to capture this satellite performance with their cell phones.
The band played with tons of energy and they are always a lot of fun to see perform. Only wish the sound had been a little better.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, we see the return of Stone Temple Pilots to Charter One Pavilion, Rilo Kiley to The Riv in Chicago, and Blues legend Lonnie Brooks performs a post race concert this Saturday at Arlington Park in the burbs.

But the pick of the week is to see how Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots fare. Fresh out of jail and ready to take the stage after serving a short DUI sentence, STP FINALLY returns together to Chicago. For a band that took the 90’s by storm, the real question is will they still have it together here in 2008 on Thursday night. That’s the bottom line of what everyone is thinking, but we feel once the hits start cranking, the fans at Charter One won’t remember what year it is. Whether he’s cruising thru the parking lot on a gold cart before the show or just bouncing all over the stage, you just never know what Scott Weiland may do next. But this show should not be missed. Tickets are still available so get them while you can. Might as well since Friday should be a short day heading into a holiday weekend, it seems like the right way to start it. Don’t you think?

WXRT did a live broadcast of one of the shows and offered it at 93.1FM and 93XRT.com. The band sounded amazing and the guest appearance of Andrew Bird took the performance to another level. Chicago embraced the Winter Residency and we look forward to Wilco’s next stop.