TV on the Radio

craig 04/07/2007 9:21:00 PM

Went to see TVOTR last night at the Meridian. It was a concert I've looked forward to for months - group has been widely hyped as The Next Big Thing. Unfortunately we had to walk out half way through. The band may have actually been good - who knows? -- but was ruined by combination of horrible accoustics and bad mix in which the vocals were unintelligible. There was a constant "wall of sound" which consisted of guitars droning indistinguishable from one another. Maybe a keyboard? Not sure. The only thing that came across somewhat clearly were the drums and bass. I'm pretty sure the two singers were singing harmony, but it was buried in the mix. I double checked: yes, indeed, there was a mixing board. The audience definitely reacted at first to their favorites, but the enthusiasm died down in the middle of the song - it was unrecognizable. Even when the singer talked to the audience, no one knew what he said - maybe "HELLO, HOUSTON!" but maybe not. The Meridian is a converted warehouse where you can hold bar mitzfas or art shows, but definitely not friendly to live music. Looks like the groups bring their own PA systems, because there's nothing set up around stage. Sad.