TV On The Radio: Tiny Desk Concert

TV On The Radio was one of the first bands we tried to coax into playing in our office back in the earliest days of the Tiny Desk, but it never happened. Roughly 15 years later, the group finally arrived to play a breathtaking and career-spanning set.

“Thank you for having us,”‘ frontman Tunde Adebimpe told the crowd after opening with a blazing version of “Wolf Like Me,” from 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain. “I don’t know what happened 15 years ago. I think someone missed a phone call or an email ’cause we wanted to do it!” “We’ve been sitting around talking amongst ourselves saying, ‘I don’t know why they don’t want us,’ ” Kyp Malone added.

TV On The Radio is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, and released a deluxe version of the album earlier this month. But they stuck to both older and newer releases for the Tiny Desk, including a slightly more subdued version of “Could You,” backed by Yusuke Yamamoto on vibraphone, from 2014’s Seeds. They also performed “Satellite,” from the band’s 2003 EP Young Liars, before closing with a soaring, lighters-up take on the title track.

SET LIST

• “Wolf Like Me”
• “Could You”
• “Satellite”
• “Young Liars”

MUSICIANS

• Jaleel Bunton: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals
• Kyp Malone: electric guitar, keyboard, background vocals
• Japhet Landis: drums
• Tunde Adebimpe: vocals
• Yusuke Yamamoto: keys, bass keys, vibraphone

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Robin Hilton
• Director/Editor: Maia Stern
• Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
• Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
• Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Wendy Li
• Audio Engineer: Carleigh Strange
• Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Michael Zamora
• Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
• Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

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