Living Colour — NPR Tiny Desk, 2025

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Why this recording

NPR placed this Tiny Desk in a Black Music Month series marking the anniversaries of landmark albums, here the 35th of Time's Up. Directed and edited by Maia Stern, with Josh Newell as audio technical director: 26 minutes for five songs, four of them from the album being celebrated. Felix Contreras' text, published with the video, flags the moment to watch for: before “Time's Up”, the band salutes Bad Brains, the hardcore punk pioneers named among its influences.

— Simon Janvier, live-sound professional and editor of the catalogue

Recording technical sheet

Rights-holding channelNPR Music
Source statusOfficial — broadcaster or organiser
Uploaded
Exact runtime
ResolutionHD (720p+)
Directed byMaia Stern
Source qualityProfessional (multi-camera)

Metadata checked on YouTube on 29 September 2026; direction, camera setup and sound documented by the editors.

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Published on September 5, 2026 by Simon Janvier

Filmed live at NPR’s headquarters in Washington, this 2025 Tiny Desk sees Living Colour celebrate the 35th anniversary of their album Time’s Up. Scaled down to the size of Bob Boilen’s desk, the New York quartet loses none of its power, running through five songs without amplified drums or a wall of amps. The set opens with the ubiquitous Cult of Personality before moving through Pride, Love Rears Its Ugly Head, Time’s Up and Solace of You. Vernon Reid’s inventive guitar work, the deep grooves of the Doug Wimbish (bass) and Will Calhoun (drums) rhythm section, and Corey Glover’s cutting voice are a reminder of why Living Colour has ranked among the defining alternative-rock bands since the late 1980s. A spare, forceful full live performance, captured in 2025, that distills the group’s funk-metal legacy into an intimate setting.

Setlist

  1. Cult of Personality
  2. Pride
  3. Love Rears Its Ugly Head
  4. Time's Up
  5. Solace of You

Personnel & credits

  • Corey Glover — vocals
  • Vernon Reid — guitar, backing vocals
  • Doug Wimbish — bass, backing vocals
  • Will Calhoun — drums
Category

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