Television- Live at the 930 Club
Published March 25, 2003
Thoughts on Television
Every once in a while I really appreciate living in DC, even if it's only because of it's proximity to NYC and the tendency for bands to include it in their sweep of the east coast. Television followed this trend and included the 930 club in their brief reunion tour. I snatched a ticket early and headed there last night after a dinner of quite faboo Ethiopian at Dukem (one of the best eateries close to both the Black Cat and the 930 club, and quite reasonable)
There were no opening bands and the show started just about at 9:30, allowing me to build up a decent reserve of anticipation. I was quite pleased with the selections on the pre-show sound system. I walked in to hear Venus in Furs (one of my all time favorite VU numbers), they played Luna's IHOP (I mean, that is quite remarkable, but interesting as Verlaine had provided guitar for a few tracks of Luna's Bewitched), some old Talking Heads, Blondie, and even some Iggy and the Stooges (all CBGB alums). This may not seem all that remarkable for a music venue, but it is quite rare for the pre-music at the 930 club to be so well paired with the main performance.
The band approached the stage and started tuning for what seemed like an eternity (creating an anticipatory buildup beyond imagination). My first thought (well, besides "Damn, this is gonna rock") was that the chiseled features that make a man handsome in his youth make him look quite skeletal as an adult (see Tom Verlaine and Dean Wareham for examples). Their faces have taken on a sort of hollowness as they have aged. Despite that, you can still see the shadow of the young man Verlaine once was as he stands with his guitar focused on a jam. By squinting a bit I could really see the appeal; the draw he must have had to women my age when he was younger. I would have lusted for him I'm sure. He is still quite formidable, standing quite tall in comparison to Lloyd/Smith. Those men can play. Even at their ages they blow today's guitar stars out of the sky. Lloyd and Verlaine had incredible chemistry, their guitars sung together with both contrast/counterpoint and cohesion. Each of their very different approaches to the instrument melded so well together. When they'd go into their extended jams I could not help but stare with my jaw agape.
- Television- Live at the 930 Club
- Published: March 25, 2003
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- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Rock
- Writer: Jen Rajkowski
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I never saw Television, but I did get a chance to see Tom Verlaine on a solo acoustic tour, and he was amazing, since from his work with Television, you'd never think, "yah, this would work on acoustic".
I also met Billy Ficca when he was with the Washington Squares and spent the whole time talking about Television and The Waitresses.
Television are one of those bands who never lived up to their debut album however.
It's funny, although I was exposed to Marquee Moon first, I actually spend more time listening to Blow-Up and Adventure, for whatever reason they affect/infect/effect me more. Not the popular view I know. Verlaine solo/acoustic is something I really hope to catch live!
I think the best part of seeing Tom Verlaine do an acoustic show was afterwards. He puts his guitar (I think an Ovation, as I recall) in its case, says he has to talk to the club owner to get paid, comes back and chats with the fans. So cool. Then he gets into a cab and off he goes. Shouldn't most shows be like that?
I had a seminal moment with Richard Lloyd at one of the Bottom Line's periodic Sixties-tribute nights a few years back. After a string of Brit-Invasion covers by local artists, the lights go down and there's this gigantic squall of teeth-grinding feedback that's easily twice as loud as anything that's preceded it onstage.
"Richard's here," someone deadpanned from the audience.
And indeed he was, systematically disassembling Donovan's "Season of the Witch" with a fire and passion I have rarely heard in any musical context, much less a one-off quasi-giggle gig like this one, combining Neil Young's jagged lumbering with a fretboard connipition that would impress Frank Zappa. Stunning, especially given the fact that the last thing anyone expected that Friday night in Manhattan was actual art.
PS don't forget Lloyd's seminal work with Matthew Sweet circa "Girlfriend" and "Altered Beast" alongside Robert Quine. Sure, Verlaine gets the glory, but Richard had the guts that made Television much more than King Crimson on a Baudelaire kick.
So well put! Ironically enough, my favorite band, Luna, covered Season of the Witch as well, I would have loved to hear Lloyd's interpretation.. you know, I never really embraced Matthew Sweet, but I think I'll go back and take another listen. Lloyd can sound like an airplane as well as he can sound as fragile as a piece of glass..
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Sounds great Jen, I'm jealous!