Television played Rough Trade (pics), do it again tonight

photos by Greg Cristman; words by Bill Pearis

Television @ Rough Trade, 11/29/2013

“Next time, we’re bringing a road crew,” Tom Verlaine joked as he fumbled with knotted guitar cord, finally throwing the thing to an audience member to undo while he fiddled with other gear. Even a master of tangled guitar solos needs help sometimes. Once that was straightened out (literally), Television got down to business for their first NYC show in six years years, and first of two at the new Rough Trade.

The sound at the new venue, this being its first ticketed show, was crystal clear (though maybe not loud enough for some), perfect for the guitar interplay Television are known for. I never got to see the original line-up but I thought Richard Lloyd’s replacement Jimmy Rip did a fine job on the bands’ signature songs “I See No Evil” and “Marquee Moon.” I was happy to hear “1880 Or So” from their 1992 comeback album as well, as part of their 80-minute or so set. A new album, their first since then, is promised soon.

Gambles (aka former Levy member Matthew Daniel Siskin) opened the night, playing a Jonathan Richman-y set with just acoustic guitar. Much of that was done on the floor in the middle of the crowd — including a cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” a pretty ballsy move, whether it was successful or not.

Both Television and Gambles play Rough Trade again tonight (11/30), which is sold out. You can, however, hit RT for a couple free shows today: Marissa Nadler plays at 1 PM and Phosphorescent is on at 3 PM.

Rough Trade, the store, seems to have filled out it’s stock a bit since I was there on Monday, and still had quite a bit of Record Store Day Black Friday items. I eyed that Stiff Records 7″ boxset but couldn’t pull the trigger. I did, however, pick up an import copy of the new book from Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley titled Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Their book collection has definitely filled-out and is pretty impressive.

More pics from Television and Gambles below…

—

Gambles

Television