[photo courtesy of Flickr user sweetcell]
When one of the greatest bands on the planet comes to your town, you do what you can to see them perform. When they come in town for two days? Well, then you bite the bullet and shell out the cash to go twice.
It may not be such a cut-and-dry decision for everyone, but if you've had the pleasure of seeing Radiohead in person before then the choice becomes quite clear. I had seen the boys from Oxford three times previously and each time the experience was amazing. The last two nights were no exception as Radiohead put on a dazzling spectacle that entertained, stimulated the senses and inspired moments of emotional connection.
Sunday's setlist relied heavily on material from Kid A, Hail to the Theif, and In Rainbows, with nine of the 25 songs coming from the latter album. Conversely, they didn't play a single song off Pablo Honey (this was true of Monday as well) and only "Street Spirit" from The Bends made the cut. Clearly, Radiohead feel more at ease showcasing material from their most abstract creative works than with their more conventional rock fare. The accompanying visual stage setup only solidified this fact even further.
Surrounded by light rods, video screens and LED boards, the stage played almost as big of a role in entertaining the crowd as the music did. Syncopated light blips and waves of color during electronica-influenced songs like "Ideoteque", "Everything In Its Right Place", and "The Gloaming" enhanced the experience in awe-inspiring ways. While moments of noise and chaos like "The National Anthem" and "Paranoid Android" were met with video effects and spastic lighting sequences that made it look like the stage could blow a fuse and crash at any moment.
Thankfully, the stage held up and so did the band. Obviously, I was blown away and the second the lights turned on I was counting down to Monday's show.
While my seats on Monday were way out in the boonies, I did have a direct view of the stage, which was kind of nice as it forced me to pay attention to everything at once (not like I had a choice). What I noticed on the second night was how much the crowd connects with whatever kind of feeling Radiohead is projecting. During sad and slow songs like "No Surprises", "Pyramid Song" and "House of Cards" people seemed to follow Thom Yorke's lead by relishing the hidden beauty of anguished memories. No doubt many of them have managed to internalize their themes and apply them to their own lives.
When the volume got turned up and some older gems like "The Bends" and "Planet Telex" were revisited, the crowd instantly matched the band's thunderous fury by indulging in anthemic sing-along. I was once again reminded of how fiercely loyal and devoted Radiohead's fanbase is, which has yet to produce a bad crowd in the five times I've seen them perform.
Other highlights of night two were Thom and Johnny Greenwood's spontaneous (and well executed, I might add) cover of Neil Young's "Tell Me Why" (video included below) and Thom performing a track off his solo album ("Cymbal Rush") that he nearly forgot the words to.
In the end, it is hard to say which show was better. I felt like Sunday had a better mix of loud and quite songs, while Monday had a better mix of old and new (not to mention, a better encore). It really doesn't matter because the wonderful thing about seeing Radiohead is that it's nearly impossible to quantify which show was better than another. To me that is the mark of a truly great band, and a feat only a select few can actually manage to pull off.
August 24, 2008:
15 Step
There There
Morning Bell
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Nude
Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
The Gloaming
National Anthem
Wolf at the Door
Faust Arp
Exit Music
Jigsaw falling into place
Idioteque
Climbing up the walls
Bodysnatchers
How to Disappear Completely
—–
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Dollars and Cents
Reckoner
Street spirit (fade out)
—–
House of Cards
Lucky
Everything In Its Right Place
August 25, 2008:
Reckoner
Optimistic
There There
15 Step
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
Videotape
Talk Show Host
Faust Arp
Tell Me Why (Neil Young Cover)
No Surprises
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
The Bends
The National Anthem
Nude
Bodysnatchers
__
House of Cards
Planet Telex
Go Slowly
Fake Plastic Trees
True Love Waits Intro/Everything In Its Right Place
It may not be such a cut-and-dry decision for everyone, but if you've had the pleasure of seeing Radiohead in person before then the choice becomes quite clear. I had seen the boys from Oxford three times previously and each time the experience was amazing. The last two nights were no exception as Radiohead put on a dazzling spectacle that entertained, stimulated the senses and inspired moments of emotional connection.
Sunday's setlist relied heavily on material from Kid A, Hail to the Theif, and In Rainbows, with nine of the 25 songs coming from the latter album. Conversely, they didn't play a single song off Pablo Honey (this was true of Monday as well) and only "Street Spirit" from The Bends made the cut. Clearly, Radiohead feel more at ease showcasing material from their most abstract creative works than with their more conventional rock fare. The accompanying visual stage setup only solidified this fact even further.
Surrounded by light rods, video screens and LED boards, the stage played almost as big of a role in entertaining the crowd as the music did. Syncopated light blips and waves of color during electronica-influenced songs like "Ideoteque", "Everything In Its Right Place", and "The Gloaming" enhanced the experience in awe-inspiring ways. While moments of noise and chaos like "The National Anthem" and "Paranoid Android" were met with video effects and spastic lighting sequences that made it look like the stage could blow a fuse and crash at any moment.
Thankfully, the stage held up and so did the band. Obviously, I was blown away and the second the lights turned on I was counting down to Monday's show.
While my seats on Monday were way out in the boonies, I did have a direct view of the stage, which was kind of nice as it forced me to pay attention to everything at once (not like I had a choice). What I noticed on the second night was how much the crowd connects with whatever kind of feeling Radiohead is projecting. During sad and slow songs like "No Surprises", "Pyramid Song" and "House of Cards" people seemed to follow Thom Yorke's lead by relishing the hidden beauty of anguished memories. No doubt many of them have managed to internalize their themes and apply them to their own lives.
When the volume got turned up and some older gems like "The Bends" and "Planet Telex" were revisited, the crowd instantly matched the band's thunderous fury by indulging in anthemic sing-along. I was once again reminded of how fiercely loyal and devoted Radiohead's fanbase is, which has yet to produce a bad crowd in the five times I've seen them perform.
Other highlights of night two were Thom and Johnny Greenwood's spontaneous (and well executed, I might add) cover of Neil Young's "Tell Me Why" (video included below) and Thom performing a track off his solo album ("Cymbal Rush") that he nearly forgot the words to.
In the end, it is hard to say which show was better. I felt like Sunday had a better mix of loud and quite songs, while Monday had a better mix of old and new (not to mention, a better encore). It really doesn't matter because the wonderful thing about seeing Radiohead is that it's nearly impossible to quantify which show was better than another. To me that is the mark of a truly great band, and a feat only a select few can actually manage to pull off.
August 24, 2008:
15 Step
There There
Morning Bell
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Nude
Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
The Gloaming
National Anthem
Wolf at the Door
Faust Arp
Exit Music
Jigsaw falling into place
Idioteque
Climbing up the walls
Bodysnatchers
How to Disappear Completely
—–
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Dollars and Cents
Reckoner
Street spirit (fade out)
—–
House of Cards
Lucky
Everything In Its Right Place
August 25, 2008:
Reckoner
Optimistic
There There
15 Step
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
Videotape
Talk Show Host
Faust Arp
Tell Me Why (Neil Young Cover)
No Surprises
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
The Bends
The National Anthem
Nude
Bodysnatchers
__
House of Cards
Planet Telex
Go Slowly
Fake Plastic Trees
True Love Waits Intro/Everything In Its Right Place
Cymbal Rush
__
Karma Police
Idioteque
Radiohead :: "Tell Me Why" (neil young cover) from gorilla vs. bear on Vimeo.
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