Robin Hilton | November 27, 2024
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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