This song, this band, its the climax of the feeling of being alive, pure joy, pure punk, pure rock, 100% going forward and getting lost in that tune. Forget everything else in that moment just embrace it.
How good was this performance? Well in only the rarest of occasions Letterman was so impressed he not only brought them back for another appearance on his show, he asked them to play this song AGAIN! Yes..it's that fucking awesome.
@@charlieaydin1377 "You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?"
totally agree...I was thinking he was having some sort of an out of body type of experience or maybe he was in some sort of trance-like state of mind and body. Like a dance trance...is that a thing??
That's his thing. I hadn't really heard of them until I saw them at a club as the opener for another band (the Faint) and was totally blown away. He gets so into what he's doing that you can't help but be swept up by it. If they ever do a small venue, go see them. I saw them in an arena setting and I didn't get the same effect.
QuixoticRaskol So agree, I hate living where I am.. no decent bands ever come through, and if they do its always at big arenas. Intimate settings are almost always better (unless the audience is shitty and just stands there bored)
I’m so glad I’m not the only person who thinks this might be one of the best live performances of any song ever,14 years later I still return to watch and just get chills and all choked up,fucking perfection
@Erratum in this live version the guitars had a shoegaze vibe for sure. Other people play with that type of sound. Certainly isn't exclusive to him. Bits of the song reminded me of pinkshinyultrablast - blaster But this was awesome I can't believe I missed this all these years though
Letterman was on the air for 30 years and the two performances of this song are nearly universally regarded as the greatest musical performances in his shows history.
@@weerahk Search 'TV on the Radio Wolf Like Me Letterman' and it should be the first result. This video was the first time they performed it on his show. Both are legendary!
@@chrispeat4929 I will also add The Heavy's performance of How You Like Me Now? to the list! There's a clip on RUclips where Letterman loved it so much he asked them to play it again after they finished 😂
the speed, intensity and charisma of this performance really accentuates what this song is all about. the raw unadulterated energy, the passion, the hunger is radiating from the sounds and it's fantastic. tv on the radio really knew how to play a song, shame i never got to see them live
I'll never forget being in college sitting on the couch with the roommate, couch-locked stoned. We just happened to flip it on Letterman to see this full performance the first timed it aired. We were totally blown away and turned into instant fans.
This performance is next level. I come back to this video on a regular basis just to reset myself. I never grow tired of this performance, uplifting to say the least.
It’s really cool how everyone knows that they’ve just witnessed something very special! Like that recognition at the time shows how powerful their performance was! Letterman was clearly blown away, and the audience as well all seemed really caught up in the moment! It must have been incredible to have witnessed that performance live in that studio! ❤
This is a disgustingly, ridiculously incredible live performance. This is probably the best live performance of any song I've ever heard and probably ever will hear and having this performance "memorialized" here is a tribute to music and the connection it can have to those who not only perform it but who are consumed by it. We are privileged to have this here and I hope it's never removed from the site so it can continue to be heard for generations to come.
Haha I feel the same way and it appears that a number of other people do as well. Funny that I still come back to see this performance again and again.
As Ed McMahon was known to say..."YOU ARE RIGHT SIR!!!!!!!!!" This is an absolutely soul stirring performance that gets better the more times I watch it...
damn i almost started crying watching them perform this.... and i've already seen this video probably 100 times. they showed up with a mission to absolutely shred the shit out of that stage... mission accomplished. hats off to that.
@Bill how? I'm not even a big fan of the band and only like a handful of their songs, but i'd still say this is the best live tv performance i have ever seen from a rock band.
the words "this it boys" were definably said behind stage. This is the kind of performance you play when the world is ending and you're gonna keep playing until the ship sinks
I come back to this every few months to witness this song performed live and it literally never gets old, this is my dopamine song forever. TV on the radio 4ever
yeah it's lost in the recording. still like it, but i unfortunately discovered these guys from this performance, and this performance is more powerful than the recording. just not fond of the production on it.
@@SuperSaiyanScandinavian it’s funny because this is probably the most streamlined, pure energy-punch version of any song in their catalogue. So if that’s the main draw you’re bound to be let down
I tried making a sandwich to this song like you guys suggested, a few minutes in I was in mid parachute jump over a field. Fuck you guys. Like how, like what?!
This song and especially this version are hitting different for me. There's something about it... something magical. The raw energy, the power, the passion can feel it ❤
I remember watching this on Letterman, I stored it on DVR....I think I listened to it about 100x before I went to sleep...& when I woke up I played it some more. :)
Me too. I remember having the TV on in the background when this came on and I had to drop everything I was doing. I had no idea who the band was but they sure as hell made an impression. I'm still coming back to it today.
Yeah, RIP. He's obviously just trying to hear what he's playing here. I don't see any ear-buds or in-ear monitoring. The guitar tube amps are mic'd as they need to be. Add in a drummer who plays relatively hard, and it's pretty tough for the bassist to hear what he's playing. I've had a couple of lousy audio engineers who simply don't understand that the guitar tube amps need to be mic'd. But when you play in a bad amateur rock band you have to accept to have inept audio engineers I guess, but it takes away all the joy of playing live.
He would transcend time, space and the capabilities of all past and future sentient life across all of the cosmos if he also used his right hand. He is resisting; saving us all from a destruction that we can not comprehend.
Watch this over and again every few months, just to remind myself that I am still alive. Must be the first time I have actually just sat and watched it today, am normally bouncing off the walls while it is on (am thick with a cold at the moment). An amazing piece of music theatre, and as other commenters have said, so glad it has been immortalised like this, captured forever. AMAZING performance, guys, so thrilled to have found this however many years ago it was.
Remember waiting for this performance and being so happy for them. Tunde is on fire ...... Kip in a tie..... This is as good as it gets RIP Gerard Smith ...... you are missed
Probably the best song on the best album of the 2000s, easily the best live musical performance on a late night show I've ever seen, and definitely my most viewed music-related video on RUclips.
never had the chance to see em live, bands like this only play fuckin london (not commercially viable) never the highlands of Scotland, glasgow or edinburgh if yer lucky, thats 4 hours away from where i live by horse n cart
no man, southern scotland does but bands wont venture up north, Inverness is a fuckin amazin place but because its classed as "the highland region" we`re in a different post code(zip)
I always come back to this song (and this specific version!!) when I want to hear my feelings of longing for someone put into music and externalize them. I mean DANG!!! They are KILLIN it!!!! So much energy!!! Makes ME turn into a wolf *-*
Seeing these guys live for the first time after hearing the first EP was just mindblowing. Just a fantastic live band, the songs completely come alive. This is my favorite rock performance on TV ever.
Видеоклипы
Shout out to not only the band members themselves, but the audio techs as well.
Do they realise that they just pulled off arguably the greatest live music performance in history….it was stunning
Great energy. Reminds me of Radiohead - 2+2=5 on Letterman. The audience didn't seem prepared.
It's up there. Gotta go with perfect circle on best live performance for a late night show. Still this is great.
These guys look like a bunch of high school science teachers but they rock the fuck out.
Fun fact, the lead singer had a little cameo in Spider-Man homecoming as a teacher lol.
@@milk5002 😵😵💫😍 THAT'S freakin' cool!!
@@milk5002he also have a part in the new Star Wars show :Skeleton Crew.
Dear science teachers ❤
One of the most awesome performances of music in human history.
No question
right!
Here here
Ok, son. Calm down and educate yourself some more xx
This will never get old. Send it to Mars.
I second this
hahaha FUCK YEAH!!! Send it
Hell motherfucking yes.
lol great comment
They DESTROYED Letterman. Holy FCUK.
This song, this band, its the climax of the feeling of being alive, pure joy, pure punk, pure rock, 100% going forward and getting lost in that tune. Forget everything else in that moment just embrace it.
❤❤❤ yessss
Precisely THAT. Very well put.
So true!
...and that carries A LOT of weight considering how good the studio version was already!
Here’s my five-billionth comment about how absolutely incredible this performance was. That’s all.
One of the most underrated bands in modern time
As an acid techno fan, I agree :)
Peter Olsson so so so god
Good*
No. Karnivool is the most underrated band ever
Came because nfs prostreet brought me here
How good was this performance? Well in only the rarest of occasions Letterman was so impressed he not only brought them back for another appearance on his show, he asked them to play this song AGAIN! Yes..it's that fucking awesome.
Awesome!!!
He also asked The Heavy to play How You Like Me Now twice.
Also Foo Fighters and Everlong
Guys just went on late night and casually performed a version of the song that’s 100x better than the studio version. Legendary.
I saw this when it originally aired on Letterman. Hands down best version! 🔥
Your so correct its beyond tbis song 😂
they just did a typical tvotr bk live show...which hot damn was alwasy the best. love those gents. miss gerard.
I love how they came back and did it again later too
They rip everything they touch. Agreeeed⚡️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That stage gave birth 9 months after this performance.
Easily one of the greatest talk show live performances ever. Just explosive.
I keep coming back to this performance months after months, years after years. I'm Howling forever.
So what tempo are we doing this in, guys?
Cocaine Hummingbird.
Firstname Lastname nummingbirb
best youtube comment ever
2/77777788888
I just did the ray liyota good fellas laugh to this 🤣
@@charlieaydin1377 "You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?"
I love how the bassist is totally oblivious to all the crazy business that is going on behind him
rest in peace Gerard.
I saw that too. Where is the bassist? Facing the speakers. What a guy.
Hello from the future. Things are looking bad, but this song still shatters reality.
its a great song live thats for sure, hope ur doing ok with all the things going on
Dude the music is like possessing him, those dance moves are fucking sick as fuck.
totally agree...I was thinking he was having some sort of an out of body type of experience or maybe he was in some sort of trance-like state of mind and body. Like a dance trance...is that a thing??
Frendlee Calvert
Probably. Ian Curtis from Joy Division always looked on the stage like he was out of his body.
Frendlee Calvert It is a thing, it has been practiced by indigenous shamans prior to the beginnings of civilization. The oldest high of all.
That's his thing. I hadn't really heard of them until I saw them at a club as the opener for another band (the Faint) and was totally blown away. He gets so into what he's doing that you can't help but be swept up by it. If they ever do a small venue, go see them. I saw them in an arena setting and I didn't get the same effect.
QuixoticRaskol So agree, I hate living where I am.. no decent bands ever come through, and if they do its always at big arenas. Intimate settings are almost always better (unless the audience is shitty and just stands there bored)
haha dude just casually places the microphone back on its stand like he's just finished a university lecture or something :)
vitamincisgoodforme true professional
chocolatewheelchair once you score a touchdown, act like you’ve been there before
A true lecture.
Death professor
They did not have to go that hard but I'm happy they did.
Fuck me the sound engineer here was on God mode!
the best part is when Dave says, "TV on the Radio! that's all you're lookin' for!" and Tunde's reaction.
I’m so glad I’m not the only person who thinks this might be one of the best live performances of any song ever,14 years later I still return to watch and just get chills and all choked up,fucking perfection
Same. Fucking shivers.
Yes yes yes! They remind me of Fugazi. That energy uau!!!
You couldn't be more spot on
I think it’s inarguably in the pantheon
still here, they're the best
I can't get enough of the crazy fast aggressive strumming and wicked feedback on the white dude's guitar
Syclone0044 Dave Sitek is yoked as fuck here
Dave Sitek is a genius. Nobody sounds like that.
@Erratum in this live version the guitars had a shoegaze vibe for sure. Other people play with that type of sound. Certainly isn't exclusive to him.
Bits of the song reminded me of pinkshinyultrablast - blaster
But this was awesome I can't believe I missed this all these years though
I'm sure his wife also can't get enough
@@johnmarston5383 chill dude chill
My favorite version of this song... so raw, dirty, and honest....
We're howling for fucking ever!
Letterman was on the air for 30 years and the two performances of this song are nearly universally regarded as the greatest musical performances in his shows history.
This and Future Islands…
wait what was the other?
@@weerahk Search 'TV on the Radio Wolf Like Me Letterman' and it should be the first result. This video was the first time they performed it on his show. Both are legendary!
@@chrispeat4929 I will also add The Heavy's performance of How You Like Me Now? to the list! There's a clip on RUclips where Letterman loved it so much he asked them to play it again after they finished 😂
@@warhellride ohhh I get it!
the speed, intensity and charisma of this performance really accentuates what this song is all about. the raw unadulterated energy, the passion, the hunger is radiating from the sounds and it's fantastic. tv on the radio really knew how to play a song, shame i never got to see them live
You and me both
Still waiting for this to be put on streaming 13 years later
This is the single greatest Letterman performance of all time.
Right? Never loses anything.
And then disturbed came, this is a really close second
Foo fighters send off to David letterman has it for me
The Strokes in 2001.
I love TV On The Radio but it's Foo Fighters for me.
No wonder why David Bowie claimed that "TV ON THE RADIO" along with "ARCADE FIRE" are the 2 best bands from the last 10 years...
+Joël DI DOMIZIO Wow is that really true? Got a source on that? Would be awesome
+Dude where is my penis Just check some rare interviews or statements he delivered back in 2006 and you'll probably find the answer...
***** Cool, thanks.
Dude wimp, ya got a high quality channel-name/username
the friendly fires is also quite good
the album version is a jam, but this performance is transcendent.
That back and forth 'hot here' is fucking incredible. 2:40
Man I watch this part so many times
I come back to this performance just for that part
@@reidstephenson3898 good man
This kicks the shit out of the album version! Wish they'd recorded it this heavy!!!
I'll never forget being in college sitting on the couch with the roommate, couch-locked stoned. We just happened to flip it on Letterman to see this full performance the first timed it aired. We were totally blown away and turned into instant fans.
those are awesome moments to remember
... I was in college too at the time. Did I know you?
same
A beautiful story
What a moment
this is one of those songs when 3 minuts seem like 30 seconds, you don't want it to end, but that's why is also perfect! 10 times in a row now!
Idk if I’ve said this before, but I listen to this all the time! Great performance!👏👏👏
This performance is next level.
I come back to this video on a regular basis just to reset myself. I never grow tired of this performance, uplifting to say the least.
I've been watching this for almost 10 years. My favourite live performance of all time.
It’s really cool how everyone knows that they’ve just witnessed something very special! Like that recognition at the time shows how powerful their performance was! Letterman was clearly blown away, and the audience as well all seemed really caught up in the moment! It must have been incredible to have witnessed that performance live in that studio! ❤
11 years later and this still hits as hard. What a performance! "TV On The Radio... that's all you need" - Dave (says it all)
This is a disgustingly, ridiculously incredible live performance. This is probably the best live performance of any song I've ever heard and probably ever will hear and having this performance "memorialized" here is a tribute to music and the connection it can have to those who not only perform it but who are consumed by it.
We are privileged to have this here and I hope it's never removed from the site so it can continue to be heard for generations to come.
Haha I feel the same way and it appears that a number of other people do as well. Funny that I still come back to see this performance again and again.
Mike9201984 I'm going to visit it over and over, hopefully till I die. Love 'em!
Check out their South by Southwest performance of Young Liars. Unbelievable!
As Ed McMahon was known to say..."YOU ARE RIGHT SIR!!!!!!!!!" This is an absolutely soul stirring performance that gets better the more times I watch it...
Yes!
That was potentially the best live performance ever.
Lol
Ok lol
Y’all that are laughing…name a better one
damn i almost started crying watching them perform this.... and i've already seen this video probably 100 times. they showed up with a mission to absolutely shred the shit out of that stage... mission accomplished. hats off to that.
Fred Toucher sent me here and I do agree with his assessment that this is the best live performance in television history.
One of the best performances on the Internet.
When I saw this on Letterman, first thing I thought was "This just about beats the fk out of the studio version! And that was already fkn good!"
Probably the best live performance of any song ever. Not a bit of it that isn't nailed. Incredible
naaah
It is awesome!!!! Check silver rocket from Sonic Youth on David Sanborn's show. 1988 - 89. Also awesome!!!
@Bill how? I'm not even a big fan of the band and only like a handful of their songs, but i'd still say this is the best live tv performance i have ever seen from a rock band.
the words "this it boys" were definably said behind stage. This is the kind of performance you play when the world is ending and you're gonna keep playing until the ship sinks
this has got to be an all-time great live performance.
This song means so much to me. Such a beautiful performance
I come back to this every few months to witness this song performed live and it literally never gets old, this is my dopamine song forever. TV on the radio 4ever
Same
literally cannot get enough of this song
That's one of the best performances I've ever seen in my entire life. Wow
This is my favorite live version of this song. The energy, the hunger. It's everything.
Yes. Exactly -- beautifully said. When Kyp starts hopping & smiling, it's transcendent -- I love when a band loves their own music.
This is my favorite live version of ANY song
yeah it's lost in the recording. still like it, but i unfortunately discovered these guys from this performance, and this performance is more powerful than the recording. just not fond of the production on it.
@@SuperSaiyanScandinavian it’s funny because this is probably the most streamlined, pure energy-punch version of any song in their catalogue. So if that’s the main draw you’re bound to be let down
This I think is my most watched video on RUclips. I can't get over how much passion is in this performance. Gives me goosebumps
i love making a penut butter sandwhich to this song
with apricot jam (jello)i hope , try it , also next time you have a burger put P.B on it cheese n relish, weird but it works somehow?
crazy u would say that. i'm tearing up an apple with almond butter as we speak
Yes this is great for fast cooking!
This song kicks ass when doing rooftop parkour, while making a sandwich ofcourse
I tried making a sandwich to this song like you guys suggested, a few minutes in I was in mid parachute jump over a field. Fuck you guys. Like how, like what?!
This song and especially this version are hitting different for me. There's something about it... something magical. The raw energy, the power, the passion can feel it ❤
I remember watching this on Letterman, I stored it on DVR....I think I listened to it about 100x before I went to sleep...& when I woke up I played it some more. :)
Me too. I remember having the TV on in the background when this came on and I had to drop everything I was doing. I had no idea who the band was but they sure as hell made an impression. I'm still coming back to it today.
Haha.... Nice!!
Bassist: "Please God--if I can't see them, they won't see me. Right?"
Stu Sutcliffe
RIP Gerard Smith
Yeah, RIP. He's obviously just trying to hear what he's playing here. I don't see any ear-buds or in-ear monitoring. The guitar tube amps are mic'd as they need to be. Add in a drummer who plays relatively hard, and it's pretty tough for the bassist to hear what he's playing. I've had a couple of lousy audio engineers who simply don't understand that the guitar tube amps need to be mic'd. But when you play in a bad amateur rock band you have to accept to have inept audio engineers I guess, but it takes away all the joy of playing live.
I laughed so hard. It's all I thought for 30 secs
@@KristianEmanuelsen actually he had really bad stage fright
this version is so good It's hard to believe it's been delivered on a tv show
The passion is passing through the screen into my brain!
the energy on this, you can see they played as hard as they could, this song is great, great band
Ill shit son. (Hip hop vernacular pun intended)
Love this soooo much more than studio version. His voice breaks beautifully and the band rocks it hard 😍😍😍😍😍
This is my first time hearing a song of the band. Happened to click on it and am very impressed. Happy surprise
this cannot be real. The sheer power. A visceral thrill. AI surely?
this song is a different beast live!!
Probably the best live performance I've ever seen.
Man theses fucking guys... you can power a small city with all that energy.
No matter how much time has passed every time I watch this performance it gives me the chills!!!
They must really like Letterman cuz this is the best TV performance I have ever seen. They really gave it their all. So fucking good.
He would transcend time, space and the capabilities of all past and future sentient life across all of the cosmos if he also used his right hand. He is resisting; saving us all from a destruction that we can not comprehend.
i am 4380 of the 2m views so there is that
this has been my get dressed for work anthem for last 10 years
His left arm. I am absolutely mesmerised by his left arm.
Lol I totally get you 😂 Jacob Banks ‘Slow Up’ live is a body language masterpiece too.
@@theghosttourmusic7156 good shout! Just watched his Roundhouse performance. We need a playlist for this niche.
Watch this over and again every few months, just to remind myself that I am still alive. Must be the first time I have actually just sat and watched it today, am normally bouncing off the walls while it is on (am thick with a cold at the moment). An amazing piece of music theatre, and as other commenters have said, so glad it has been immortalised like this, captured forever. AMAZING performance, guys, so thrilled to have found this however many years ago it was.
This is the very best performance by a band on a tv show ever. This is the best.
Followed by weezer say it ain't so and beasties sabotage on letterman
Correct..fucking perfect
Gives me goosebumps everytime i see it!!! One of the best live performances you will see.
Remember waiting for this performance and being so happy for them.
Tunde is on fire ......
Kip in a tie.....
This is as good as it gets
RIP Gerard Smith ...... you are missed
This live version always blows my mind! Fricking incredible 🔥 🔥🔥
This song always pumps me up.. love their energy
Probably the best song on the best album of the 2000s, easily the best live musical performance on a late night show I've ever seen, and definitely my most viewed music-related video on RUclips.
probably the best live rendition of a song ive ever heardl
Whenever they perform *Wolf Like Me* live, it sounds better than the version on their album *Return To Cookie Mountain*.
never had the chance to see em live, bands like this only play fuckin london (not commercially viable) never the highlands of Scotland, glasgow or edinburgh if yer lucky, thats 4 hours away from where i live by horse n cart
Pavementchaser So Scotland doesn't get many concerts? Aww that's too bad. I guess England gets all the best shows in the UK.
no man, southern scotland does but bands wont venture up north, Inverness is a fuckin amazin place but because its classed as "the highland region" we`re in a different post code(zip)
Pavementchaser That sucks bro. Sorry to hear that. It's tough when you have to travel out of your way to attend a concert.
I've never in my life seen a live performance as bonkers as this. It was absurdly good.
If this band came out with this hit today it'd be the biggest thing
I'm afraid not, sadly.
@@fabrizioroscini Do we know what is happening with this band? or have they just kinda fizzled out and moved onto other things?
@@sorysrgee the time it took you to type that question you could've typed "tv on the radio" on google and read their most recent wikipedia entries
@D T i have you dope! The last thing mentioned on the wikipedia article for them is dated at 2015 same year as their last single from Seeds.
It came out at the right time
I never heard of these guys to letterman wow I love finding new music that rocks
They left their souls on that stage!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!
my introduction into indie rock, along with Bloc party and Maximo Park. Timeless music
How is this not the best song of all time yet?
This just lifted my mood completely. Potent stuff.
Me too! 🤘🏼😎
So many years and this performance still brings tears to my eyes, this heals depression.
Its pure fucking RAW Energy , geht's me hyped No Matter what. Depression fuck you
It certainly helps.
I always come back to this song (and this specific version!!) when I want to hear my feelings of longing for someone put into music and externalize them. I mean DANG!!! They are KILLIN it!!!! So much energy!!! Makes ME turn into a wolf *-*
They didn't get in the zone, the zone possessed them
Simple, hard and relentless.
This is all you need!
So much good music came from this show. Luv Dave's reaction. This is a wicked clip...talk about crankin song...those guitars are wicked . Luv it!!!
This song kicks ass. One of my all time favorites.
Just discovered this clip, always loved the song but this performance is just something else.
Imagine if we could travel in time and show this to people that lived 2000 years ago
I remember watching this when it aired and being just as blown away then as I am now.
All time banger.
THAT BASSIST IS WHAT U SHOULD BE AWARE OF.
WATCH THIS A SECOND TIME.
THAT IS A COOL ONE.
+Eric Unbekannt Exactly! That's the late Gerard Smith. R.I.P. Friggin' lung cancer...
+Eric Unbekannt I've never seen all four members of a group so engrossed it what they are performing. Jesus.
Jay Man
Ever see Fugazi?
@@Fakename70 hey, i did not have the opportunity! But sure!!! I see the same energy here!
every time I see this it only gets better, I bet when I´m 50 years old, they will still blow my mind with this performance. Fucking love them
Seeing these guys live for the first time after hearing the first EP was just mindblowing. Just a fantastic live band, the songs completely come alive. This is my favorite rock performance on TV ever.