TV On The Radio Purple Rain Square
When in the Purple Court, do as the Purple One does. TV On The Radio bravely took it upon themselves to cover Prince's "Purple Rain" during a concert last week at Minneapolis's First Avenue, the club made famous by the film of the same name. Draped in violet light and cheered on by an elated crowd, the group emitted what was ultimately a commendable take on the 1984 classic. From the surprisingly-high-quality crowd footage that's surfaced, we can glean that frontman Tunde Adebimpe took a staid approach to the entire thing, leaving all of us to instead imagine Prince's own sexy shimmying (good call). Also: be sure you stick around for the bass solo.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune described the moment:
Brooklyn’s longest-tenured hipster darling band pulled out “Purple Rain” at the end of its encore -- and pulled it off quite well, too, with co-vocalists Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone swapping parts based on their vocal strengths, and with local singer Nona Marie Invie of opening band Roniia pitching in for the song’s woo-hooh-ooh outro. The cover-song choice was a tad on the predictable side for the adventurous band, but it was believed to be the first time they played it in a decade of appearances at First Ave. It also seemed as much a tribute to the little big man (TVOTR has obvious Prince influences) as it did to the club.
Watch the performance below, and keep an eye on TVOTR's fall tour itinerary after the jump.
TV On The Radio Fall Tour Dates:
Aug 19 Parades De Coura Festival - Paredes, Portugal
Aug 21 Krakow Live - Krakow, Poland
Aug 22 Frequency Festival - Sankt Pölten, Austria
Aug 24 Paradiso Grote Zaal - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Aug 25 L'ATELIER - Luxembourg Ville, Luxembourg
Aug 27 Zurich Openair 2015 - Zurich, Switzerland
Aug 28 Todays Festival - Turin, Italy
Aug 30 London Roundhouse - London, United Kingdom
Aug 31 London Roundhouse - London, United Kingdom
Sep 05 Sonic Boom Fest - Edmonton, Canada
Sep 06 Fort Calgary - Calgary, Canada
Sep 11 Hopscotch Music Festival - Raleigh, NC
Sep 27 Landmark Festival - Washington, DC
Oct 03 Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
Oct 10 Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
