Last night, post-punk legends Television played a set at the Phoenix Concert Hall that drew equally from their three studio albums and included a handful of new songs and rarities. The band jammed in their trademark rough and percussive style, stretching out many of their tunes with long guitar solos and lyrical flourishes. Tom Verlaine and Jimmy Rip, who replaced original guitarist Richard Lloyd in 2007, carried the show with their unique, scratchy, angular guitar work.
Despite not having released new material since 1992's Television (though a new album is apparently on the way), they sounded fresh and urgent. Songs like "Marquee Moon" and "Prove It" sounded revitalized live, as the band treated them like living, breathing pieces of music, rather than artefacts in a museum. This was not a nostalgia act, and the crowd took great pleasure in seeing how these pioneering musicians have evolved over time.
Despite not having released new material since 1992's Television (though a new album is apparently on the way), they sounded fresh and urgent. Songs like "Marquee Moon" and "Prove It" sounded revitalized live, as the band treated them like living, breathing pieces of music, rather than artefacts in a museum. This was not a nostalgia act, and the crowd took great pleasure in seeing how these pioneering musicians have evolved over time.