The Radio Dept.

I love this band. I have seen them before in smaller venues that are not obsessed with pushing the volume levels like the Fillmore does and they sounded great. Their beautiful music lost all of its subtlety. I have been to the Fillmore for over 20 years for all kinds of music genres from Chevelle to the Kings of Convenience and I have noticed a deterioration of the sound quality due to excessive volume levels that just muddy everything. A real shame.

I've been to this venue at least 4 times in the last 2 months (and many times before that) and had never had to leave due to excessive volume and/or distortion. My wife can't wear earplugs due to the shape of her ear canals, so she was plugging her ears with her fingers for the first couple of songs, as were at least 3 other people I could see. I was using my 'Dubs' earplugs, but couldn't make out any of the singer's lyrics, all the sounds were awash. If I'd been alone, I may have stuck it out, but having to wear earplugs already is a detriment to the experience. I don't know why some venues and/or bands insist on pushing the volume to the upper limits... Also, this band's music is mellow!! Why do they have to play it so loud???

Amazing show, I love the radio dept. they sound amazing live!

It's basically 3 Swedish nerds, and I'm saying that as a positive thing. You could tell that they were shy, unpretentious and really appreciating the fact that a lot of people from LA came to see their show. About half the songs were from Clinging to a Scheme which is an awesome album. The only negative for me is that they could do another 2-3 songs, but never mind, the show was pretty good as it is.

Shoe gazing music does for the ears what watching paint dry does for the eyes. It's not for everyone, but it serves a function. I found it somewhat painful but most of the crowd seemed to enjoy it as they immersed themselves in private memories associated with the songs. The vocals were muffled so I couldn't make out their voices and there was no drummer... I couldn't stand it after 30 minutes so I left. The fuschia lighting was nice.

The most amazin show i have ever been too by far. Not exaggerating. Very great live, like i imagined. Overall: Total awesomeness

I'm pretty sure this was the Radio Dept.'s first ever US tour, and I have been a fan for 4 years now. Getting the chance to shoegaze with them live was a dream come true. They had another shoegaze group (Young Prisms) open for them with a nice moody set. Radio Dept. then played a very solid set for a little over an hour and set a fantastic mood. They were very true to their various albums and I enjoyed the songs they selected to play. I was really let down that they did not play "Pulling Our Weight", which is my fave song by them. But the set was still great overall!

been waiting for them for a while. glad they finally made it out. very worth the wait.

Radio Dept gave an amazing show...................

I had never heard of Radio Dept before going to the show, and I had never been to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Went on a friend's recommendation. Loved both the venue and the show. Acoustics were great, the place was small enough to feel intimate but large enough to feel like there was a full, great crowd. Radio Dept was engaging. They had lots of energy, and they sounded terrific. Would definitely see them again.

Despite the previous, lackluster reviews posted about this band live, they deserve an accurate, recent review. The show was fantastic. The melodic and harmonic structures of their songs were all there, and they DID come on for an encore. It's true they used a laptop as a drum machine, but it didn't subtract any life from the show. Highly recommended, and for $10, had a fantastic evening. Enjoy!

No Drummer, no energy. These guys have some great music on CD, but goodness no, there live show is awful.

the first band came on according to schedule, and played a decently long set. they weren't that friendly with the audience, but the music was okay. they weren't who i came to see though. the radio dept. took a very long time setting up and ended up going on almost a half and hour after the posted time. this is understandable though, and all things were checked to ensure a good show experience. they played their popular songs first and also took requests from the audience. it was great to see them live! my only complaint is that they went on late and finished quickly. they didn't even come back for an encore. i don't know their situation, but for a room full of fans there to see them who had already been standing close to three hours it would've been nice to see them for more than 40 min. or at least done one encore. i don't know if i'd see them again, but i'm still glad i did. they're a long standing band and make awesome music.

Possibly the worst show I've seen at the Bowery Ballroom. I'm a huge fan of Radio Dept. but they got a raw deal. Maybe it's just that they play intimate music that doesn't translate to the live setting, but they had a horrible experience at Bowery, and I sympathize. The sound engineer should have been shot. The mixing was so bad, it was hard to hear what was going on. The lead guitarist's instrument was out of tune for several songs. The band obviously couldn't hear themselves because at some point during every song they were gesturing to their instruments and giving instructions to the on stage engineers. Ended up being a very disappointing experience. I love this band, but this show was just painful to sit through.

I had a feeling this show could go either way. It could be a great live experience or a lack luster night, but I wasn't prepared for how lack luster Radio Dept was live that night. With a three piece band that was 10% musicianship and 90% play the tracks off the laptop. All the interesting bits where prerecorded yet the band still flopped some chords and the overall mix was made it hard to hear the lead singers shy and un-projecting voice. It was a shame that such a great album had to be represented with such a lame live show. The crowd tried to get into it but it seemed that they couldn't get past how much energy had drained from the conversion. Bottom line, learn to play the songs proper and get yourself a drummer for god sakes. Though not a fan of the opening band they at least knew how to fill a room with sound even if they didn't know how to write past a single chord and adorable girl voices.

no drummer, no presence, not even chilled. just boring