TV On The Radio Played SNL - We Actually, Um, Liked It?

Earlier in the week, it seemed that there was almost-ubiquitous dismissal of TV On The Radio's set on SNL last weekend. The complaints ranged from poor vocals, to a murky mix, to a lack of charisma by the band.

Well we, being the A/V snobs that we are, had held off on watching the web clips in favor of a viewing on our pretty little home theater setup. We watched it last night, and here's the thing: we loved it. Now, granted, we always take SNL with a grain of salt: despite getting many great acts, the performances can be sub par. But the web's criticism seemed so universal, that we were expecting a complete and total flub.

By contrast, what we actually got was one of the most solid, non-canned, enthusiastic performaces we've seen on SNL in quite some time. Sure, maybe the vocals weren't totally perfect, and maybe the mix wasn't the same as on the record, but this is a LIVE performance. The fact that it's not as perfect as the record is not necessarily a bad thing, and you have to remember the band is no doubt on edge as well. The fact of the matter is that they blew through two awesome songs with complex arrangements, and did a damn good job on it. The bassline alone on "Golden Age" is enough to get us going.

While we'd love to hook you up with the vids to compare for yourself, they appear to have disappeared from the interwebs. Instead, you can check out the interview clip above - that's all Hulu was willing to feed to us. Seriously though, we do have to say: blogosphere, ease up! And for you guys in TVOTR - keep kicking ass. The show certainly wasn't a let down in our eyes, and you can bet we'll have it saved on the ol' Tivo for quite a few months to come...