SHOW REVIEW: TV GIRL @ THE TERAGRAM BALLROOM

http://buzzbands.la/2017/01/04/tonight-in-l-a-tv-girl-flying-hair-spirit-in-the-room-jason-heath-the-greedy-souls-nick-valentini-collective-sht-giver-old-outfits/

The LA natives, Brad Petering, Jason Wyman, and Wyatt Harmon comprise the hypnotic pop group ‘TV Girl’ who performed at the Teregram Ballroom this past Thursday. The attraction for the show was Death of a Party Girl which is their third studio album released in 2018. The mesmerizing spectacle was dreamy, high in synth, and tapped into a psychedelic homage creating the groups distinguished pop sound. Petering accompanies with personal lyrics of heartbreak, loneliness and rooftop parties to fill the harmonic background vocals and lush beats. As usual, TV Girl sprinkles in various samples from movies and other mediums into their work that makes it unique and more interesting. While Petering narrated through tasteful love tales in third person his voice did not blend well live with the beats pounding from the track pads of his comrades. Further, it was not hard to notice it was off pitch and out of tune. The music sounded very different than the recorded music distributed online since music is heavily reliant on their electronic equipment. Two band members are on synths and electric keyboards, while Petering, the vocalist, paces back and forth on stage. There was little to no stage presence in between them since they were centralized to their machines. In between an act, Petering offered some banter with sharing his desire to begin a standup routine. After which, he had a long monologue of life being like a bouquet of roses and then proceeded to fling it into the crowd of eager teenagers who made up the majority of the show.

Unfortunately, the show began with disappointment since those who opened did not excite the crowd. Two openers were listed to perform before TV Girl; the first was “Charles” and then “American Slang”, neither of which I believe performed. As the opener first stepped on to the stage the show began, and the name of the group was never revealed. The core of the group was their lead singer who pranced on stage and introduced herself as a bad singer. That was the first pitfall, an aura of self-deprecation and insecure giggles filled the space throughout the whole set. The vocalist was accompanied by a full band but there was little connection between any of them. It was hard to listen to as the lyrics were difficult to understand and the ones that were audible were of her spreading her genes and having a child. In all, it was a very bizarre performance. She also made a bad joke about being flown into the venue from Los Feliz. Her naivete was not helping her performance. Although the enthusiasm was there, she was also off beat and pitch. This set the tone of the rest of the show.

The highlight of the show was certainly the venue itself. The Teregram Ballroom, a convenient space nestled in downtown LA was a freshly sensual and dark space, with a restaurant, bar area, and a vast standing room area. The stage is small, so it certainly caters to smaller acts. For a great use of a smaller space, the Teregram was a wonderful host.

— Maya Bingham, DJ