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.

The friendly invasion of UK retro soul rock divas (collectively known as Amys over there) continued last night when the vivacious Welsh singer Duffy played an XRT Show at the Vic theatre. Unlike her dangerous colleague Winehouse, Duffy comes across as good clean fun and channels Lulu and Petula Clark as much as Aretha. She made an impressive beginning, coming out in a fringed, flapper style roaring twenties black mini accompanied just by hollow bodied electric guitar showing off her considerable vocal prowess. Her band was competent, if maybe a little stiff at times and mostly just laid back and let the star command the spotlight with dramatic gestures, a little go-go dancing and even some restrained microphone twirling. (Roger Daltrey has nothing to worry about.) One of the best parts of the staging was the inclusion of a six inch high micro platform off to the side which was ringed by a string of cheesy Christmas lights. Duffy would retreat there often during the show, pushing her voice to the Betty Boop level. She stuck mainly to material from her debut, with the title cut and the infectious smash Mercy providing the highlights. A new track Rain on Your Parade was also promising. It will be interesting to see what comes next for her, she has a lot of potential, but many of her songs seem to depend on conjuring up memories of Motown and Merseybeat…nothing wrong with that, but nostalgia will only take you so far. Opening act  Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the True Loves gave a valiant effort, but showed the effects of listening to too many James Brown records.

Coldplay were in town this Tuesday and Wednesday playing a couple of excellent shows at the United Center. The fans at the sold-out Tuesday show were treated to an extra surprise- Coldplay were filming the show for the video to their new song “Lost!”. Now they all can tell their grand-children someday that they were in a video on TRL. (That show will definitely still be on then, trust us)

It got us to thinking, what are the coolest random things that can happen at a concert to make it more memorable? Sorry Coldplay, the video thing was cool, but it doesn’t make the cut.

#5. A Surprise Special Guest - We’re not talking about the avalanche of guests that Dave Matthews often features. This is for the more off-the-cuff partnerships like John Mayer joining Buddy Guy on stage at legends. Or even Jay-Z performing “Big Pimpin” with Phish in Brooklyn. Those are the kind of moments that create one-of-a-kind musical creations.

#4. Equipment Malfunction - If Janet Jackson accidentally exposes herself to millions of people at the Super Bowl that’s one thing, but anytime something goes wrong onstage you get the chance to see whether you’re favorite band is cool under pressure. Wouldn’t it be hilarious to see something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CukuwxkMk5A at a real show?

#3. Someone Gets Arrested Onstage - Nothing says Rock ‘n Roll like trouble with the law, and sometimes a rock star can be so hard to get that onstage is the only place the cops can get him. It would be pretty cool to see a guy get taken off the stage in handcuffs, and you know the band would play an extra-long set to hold off the cops Blues Brothers-style. Bonus points if the arrest doesn’t involve Jim Morrison exposing himself onstage.

#2. The Show Becomes A Live Album - Whether you’re seeing the Who in Leeds, Cheap Trick in Japan, or Johnny Cash in prison, if your show gets recorded and sold to millions of people, you know it was a special performance.

#1. It’s The Last Performance Ever - Sometimes a band will announce ahead of time that a show will be their last, but its more exciting to see a band self-destruct and storm offstage like the Sex Pistols did at their last show. Or the end could be more tragic like Stevie Ray Vaughan’s death in a helicopter crash as he left Alpine Valley immediately after a concert. Either way, a band’s unexpected last show is guaranteed to attain legendary status.

With both the Cubs and White Sox leading their divisions, there’s really not much to complain about in Chicago baseball this summer. We’ve even spotted Cubs and Sox fans peacefully coexisting around town. The All Star break this week gives us some free time, which led us to contemplate our ideal concerts at the Friendly Confines and the Cell. There’s something to be said when the stadiums in which we have cheered and jeered are transformed into the ideal venue for our favorite artists. We’re thinking back to the Police at Wrigley last summer and the Rolling Stones 40 Licks Tour on the South Side a few years back. Who would you most love to see in the hallowed home of your favorite team?

A debate has been raging internally over the influence of the music on iTunes commercials on the mass population. If you recall and look past the U2 and Coldplay commercials of the recent past, you’ll recall how one commercial helped launch the career of a band called Jet, propelled Feist into a different atmosphere where she is now headlining Ravinia Festival for over 20,000 people this coming Friday night, and more recently exposed us to The Ting Tings. You can’t honestly tell us that “1,2,3,4” never stuck in your mind, or that the catchy “Shut Up and Let Me Go” currently on the commercial didn’t get your attention. What other songs that you remember took off because of use at the right time in a particular commercial, movie scene, or television show?