I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 11, 2018] Radiohead

I remember hearing “Creep” when it first came out and really liking it.  And I remember thinking that Radiohead would be a fun grunge band to follow.  Well, that changed pretty quickly and soon enough Radiohead released “Paranoid Android,” and I couldn’t stop listening to the song and the album.

Then, by making deliberately quirky and somewhat hard to fathom albums, Radiohead became the biggest band in the world.

Their live shows were supposed to be spectacular.  But I had never managed to go.  They played Madison Square Garden in 2016 and the tickets sold out so fast it was a trending topic.   Previously, they had played NY and Philly back in 2012, but I wasn’t as fully cognizant of concerts then like I am now.

So, when they announced a brief tour of the States, I tried, once again, to get tickets through the proper channels (with the understanding that they were trying to control bots and scalpers).

Tickets for Philly went on sale first and I couldn’t believe that I got one!  The seat was close but on the side of the stage.  But who cared?  It was Radiohead.

When MSG tickets went on sale I wanted to see if I could do better.  And I scored a floor seat, general admission!  I nearly passed out.

On the day of the show, I took off work and got to the city about 90 minutes before the doors opened.  I didn’t make any new friends, but I did enjoy the folks around me.  And then I walked into Madison Square Garden, on the floor, which I had never seen before.  And I was amazed at how empty it was!

I didn’t love the “tonight only” merch (a T-shirt and poster with today’s date and what looked like a hastily drawn grim reaper).  For as much as I like the Radiohead aesthetic, their artwork is really rather bland.  But I did get the tour poster and I found my spot on the floor–I didn’t want to be right up front anyhow, this was about the music!

Amazingly, standing on the floor of Madison Square Garden felt just like standing on the floor at any other venue.  It was easy to lose track of everyone else around me.

Sadly there were a few tall people in front (they had been sitting when I came up to my spot).  But there was no pushing or jockeying for position–except the woman behind whose something was poking me for much of the show.

The lights went out, the crowd roared and pretty synth sounds wafted over the audience.  And then there he was–hom Yorke just a few feet in front of me.  And there on my right was Jonny Greenwood (whom I had just seen with Junun, but he was kind of hiding in the back with them).

Despite my love for Radiohead, I really haven’t gotten into A Moon Shaped Pool.  It doesn’t really do anything for me.  I’m the only person who likes Radiohead (or music in general) who thinks this way, I believe.   So I was a little concerned when they started off with three songs from Pool.  Had I gotten tickets to the wrong show?

No, because from then came the amazing Garden-shaking version of Myxomytosis.  That bassline!  The dancing!  The drums!  It was everything I wanted in a Radiohead show.

I have since come to love Pool’s “Daydreaming” as it opened both shows.  I also enjoyed seeing Thom with the acoustic guitar on Desert Island Disk.”

But up next was the opening vocal and gorgeous guitar of “15 Step.”  This was when I fully got to see Jonny do his thing.

The one song I really wanted to see was “Paranoid Android.”  I knew I had a good-but-not-guaranteed chance to see it.

But I was absorbed with watching Thom sing and dance (for a band often derided as being mopey, Thom Yorke had a lot of fun dancing and jittering around up there).  And Jonny was mesmerizing to watch.  He changed instruments with every song–guitar, keys, gadgets, drums, more keys, another guitar, drums, some large box, a different guitar.  It was great.

Also wonderful was Ed O’Brien, who (by me certainly) is overlooked under the shadow of Jonny.  Ed plays some amazing guitar parts, especially when Jonny is doing something else.  But he also bookeneded Thom, doing some excellent backing vocals and mirroring Jonny on drums and effects pedals.

The rhythm section was utterly fanatic  Colin Greenwood on bass was outstanding.  His bass sounded great and he kept the intricate and interesting sounds moving throughout the show. Oftentimes, his bass was the anchor to everything while at other times it was playing a suitably original lead line while the guitars were doing their own thing.  He sat comfortably in the pocket formed by the two drummers.

Yes two drummers.  Phil Selway (who was in an awkward space behind Thom and was never in a good place to get photographed except for this one on the left) was on the primary kit and Clive Deamer plays a lot of percussion, but also plays a proper drum kit.  Their kits sit next to each other (not facing each other like in King Gizzard).  Deamer was a bit more mobile as he was able to get up and play various things, but he also stayed at the kit while Selway did some other things as well (I love when Selway plays the electronic drums for the intro of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.”

I knew that the band mixed up their setlists every night, so who new what we would get (I didn’t check the night’s before to avoid any spoilers).  So imagine my surprise to hear “Kid A” and “All I Need”

And then came another tremendous bass line as “The National Anthem” started.  Of all of the “unusual” (to me) songs they might play this was ta the top of my wish list.  It was excellent.

They played the unused James Bond anthem “Spectre” (which I hadn’t heard before).  Then they brought out a small drum kit for Jonny to play on “Bloom,” because sometimes two drummers are not enough.

After the new “Identikit” and the aforementioned “Fishes” I was totally surprised that they played “No Surprises.”  I didn’t know how much OK Computer would be represented but this was wonderful.  Especially the glockenspiel from Jonny and the way the crowd reacted to the lines

Bring down the government
They don’t, they don’t speak for us

which never seemed so appropriate.

They brought out two more small drum kits for Jonny and Ed to play for the intense There There.”  I loved watching the end, where Jonny switched from drum to guitar back to drums and they concluded with that wonderful snare hit ending.

They ended the set with an excellent “Everything in Its Right Place.”

And then it was time for the encores. I had read that Radiohead always does two encore breaks so I wasn’t surpirsed that the set ended as early as it did.

They came back out for a great run through “Optimistic.”

In my mind an encore is an opportunity to play a couple of rip-roaring songs to get the crowd on its feet singing your songs on the way home.  For Radiohead, it’s like a mini set with rocking songs and loud songs and quiet songs like “Nude.”

And then a chance to surprise me yet again with a lovely rendition of “Fake Plastic Trees,” a song I never thought they’d play.

I always also think of the encore as the place to play your biggest hit if you didn’t open with it. I did not expect them to play “Creep”(and am glad they didn’t) but what do you play in the encore then?

Well, how about their most exciting and fun dance song made even more dancey in a live setting “Ididoteque,” with an incredibly intense ending sequencee.  I have no idea what Jonny was doing with this big box, but he seemed be making all kinds of sounds with it.

This was followed by a terrific reading of “Exit Music For a Film” with Thom on acoustic guitar.  It built slow, soared to great heights and had a terrific denouementt.  Jonny also made some cool guitar sounds on it.

The night ended with one more from Ok Computer, but not the one I wanted.  Rather it was a fantastic version of “Karma Police.”   Complete with great yells from Ed O’Brien.

And that was that.

It was a spectacular show.  The visuals were tremendous, without taking away from the music.  And the sound was utterly phenomenal.  I genuinely can;t get over how good the sound was–the bass was low and loud and rumbling without ever distorting and the highs soared crisp and clean.

It was really great and worth the wait.

 

Wells Fargo Center August 1 (night 2 of 2)	Madison Square Garden July 11 (night 2 of 4)
Daydreaming [Pool]	Daydreaming [Pool]
Desert Island Disk [Pool]	Desert Island Disk [Pool]
Ful Stop [Pool]	Ful Stop [Pool]
15 Step [InRain]	Myxomytosis [Hail]
Lucky [OKC]	15 Step  [InRain]
Kid A [KidA]	Kid A [KidA]
Videotape [InRain]	All I Need  [InRain]
Decks Dark [Pool]	The National Anthem [KidA]
Let Down [OKC]	The Gloaming [Hail]
Everything in Its Right Place [KidA]	Spectre
Bloom  [Limbs]	You and Whose Army [Amn]
Reckoner [InRain]	Bloom [Limbs]
Lotus Flower [Limbs]	Identikit [Pool]
House of Cards [InRain]	Weird Fishes/Arpeggi  [InRain]
Optimistic [KidA]	No Surprises [OKC]
Idioteque [KidA]	There There [Hail]
How to Disappear Completely [InRain]	Everything in Its Right Place [KidA]
encore	encore
Spectre	Optimistic [KidA]
Myxomytosis [Hail]	Nude  [InRain]
Exit Music (For a Film) [OKC]	The Numbers [Pool]
There There [Hail]	Lotus Flower [Limbs]
The Tourist [OKC]	Fake Plastic Trees [Bends]
encore 2	encore 2
The Bends [Bends]	Idioteque [KidA]
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi [InRain]	Exit Music (For a Film) [OKC]
Karma Police [OKC]	Karma Police [OKC]

• from:
• [Bends] The Bends 1995
• [OKC] Ok Computer 1997
• [KidA] Kid A 2000
• [Amn] Amnesiac 2001
• [Hail] Hail to the Thief 2003
• [InRain] In Rainbows 2007
• [Limbs] The King of Limbs 2011
• [Pool] A Moon Shaped Pool 2016
• Spectre sort of unreleased 2015