Those at the Great American Music Hall who truly knew the full history of this band called Tom Tom Club knew they were in for a rare treat on this night, as live Tom Tom Club shows these days are few and far between. The band has pretty much always functioned as a side project for its married rhythm section Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, whether it was as a creative outlet from their other band in the 80’s (you know, that one), or for sporadic reunions throughout the 2000’s.
For the band’s recent incarnation (only two shows into their short tour), the drum-n-bass couple has recruited guitarist Fuzz from Deep Banana Blackout to join longtime members keyboardist/percussionist Bruce Martin, reggae singer Mystic Bowie, and Weymouth’s sister Victoria on vocals. With Tina and Chris in the forefront of the mix laying down their signature bouncy minimalist grooves, the band played a succinct set that sounded much like their most recent (and best) album, 2002’s Live at the Clubhouse, though the lack of a full-time percussionist to compliment Frantz’s drumming made the sound a bit sparse. The 21st century Tom Tom Club sound adds world music and reggae to the band’s well-known lite-Caribbean-funk-hip-hop hybrid sound, which worked to varying degrees over the course of the night.
Throughout the show, it was Weymouth who commanded our constant attention, bouncing and bopping around, all legs and pigtails in a short, sparkly dress, playing a turquoise Hofner bass. Still sexy at 59, her reputation precedes her as a pioneer for female rock bassists over the past 35 years. Frantz, decked in aviators, kept mostly quiet behind his kit, blurting out the occasional interjection with a “Good god!”or “yes yes, y’all” here and there.
As the band has written no new material in ten years or so, their set was naturally a showcase of the past, filled with nostalgic nods back to the good ol’ days when the Talking Heads regularly played CBGB’s. To be fair, it’s safe to say that the majority of fans are unfamiliar with any of the band’s catalog outside of “Genius of Love” and “Wordy Rappinghood,” their two monster hits from the early 80s. And this is somewhat understandable, as most of their material comes nowhere near the infectiousness of those timeless tracks.
That doesn’t mean there were some clear highlights, though. “She’s Dangerous” was a Mystic Bowie-led bouncing ska groove, with Tina’s incessant, pulsing bass driving the tune forward. “Punk Lolita” had Tina delivering her sing-songy, half-spoken vocals in a tribute to “all the pretty girls down at CBGBs,” and included the catchy chorus “punk girl, doin’ it funky.” Unfortunately, Tina’s breezy, school-girl vocals lacked resonance, and were often lost in the mix.
What didn’t work as well were covers of “Under the Boardwalk” and “You Sexy Thing,” where the band came dangerously close to the triteness of a wedding band. The sparse, minor-key space-funk excursions of “Man With The 4-Way Hips” more than made up for this though, as the band kept this pulsating groove going right into the climax of the set. The audience erupted at those unforgettable opening synth lines to “Genius of Love,” and the band, knowing full well that this was their time to shine, dug deep into the song, which included a Mystic Bowie dancehall breakdown that got both band and audience pumped and dancing. With it’s opening typewriter sounds, “Wordy Rappinghood” followed, in which Tina’s nonsense rhymes were supplemented with DJ scratching, muscular drumming from Frantz, and a strong percussion breakdown from Martin which closed out the set.
The encore consisted of more nostalgia, with fun-but-average sing-along versions of Talking Heads staples “Take Me To The River” and “Psycho Killer,” with everyone sharing David Byrne’s vocal parts. Overall, the somewhat short set was justified by the band’s lack of consistency in quality material, as there was a bit of a lull in energy during portions of the show. But the high points were very high indeed. That’s not to say that this band is a one trick pony, but that their highlights are so good as to make the rest of their quirky catalog pale in comparison. Regardless, the music was infectious, unique, and played by legends in their own right, and that is all you need ask for from such a show such as this.
Setlist:
Suboceana, She’s Dangerous, Punk Lolita, L’Elephant, Who Feelin’ It, Under the Boardwalk, 4-Way Hips, Time to Bounce, Genius of Love, You Sexy Thing, Wordy Rappinghood.
ENCORE: Take Me to The River, Psycho Killer.
