I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 1, 2018] Radiohead

I have never really seen a band two times close together.  Sometimes with smaller bands if they are playing two clubs, but never a stadium show.

But I had already gotten my Radiohead ticket for WellsFargo, so I was sure as heck not giving it up.

I saw Phish twice on the Baker’s Dozen run–two shows 16 days apart.  Now here was Radiohead 21 days apart.  For some reason their tour didn’t go NY to Philly, it went NY to Canada, to Ohio to Boston and then to Philly.  This was a cool way to see the band twice with some decompression time in between gigs.

Strangely enough, these tickets which were literally at the side of the stage–I was parallel with the gap between the stage and the crowd and 23 rows back–and they actually cost more than the General Admission floor seats at Madison Square Garden (although the fees at MSG were more, so these tickets were technically cheaper when all was said and done).

Since I had trouble getting to the arena for Pearl Jam, I decided to leave work a bit early, drive in and beat the inevitable traffic.  Which meant I arrived 45 minutes before the gates opened.  Duh.  So I sat in the car and continued my book.

Then I went in and got some merch that hadn’t been available at MSG and found my seat.  As with the MSG show I was surprised at how uncrowded it was.  I guess many people didn’t care about Junun.  But when the lights went down for Radiohead, my section (and everywhere else) seemed full.

I had a pretty great view of the stage (except for one lighting pole which was directly in my view of whomever was up front (usually Thom).  I also couldn’t really see the screen in the back (which was ok) and the lights are obviously very different from off to the side instead of head on.

But what was most important was the music.  And despite what I thought was a terrible sound for Junun, Radiohead sounded amazing once more   The music was crystal clear and powerful without being too loud.

The lights went dark and there was just the piano and vocals of “Daydreaming.”  The lights came up and the stage looked–different!  Rather than flashing lights at a mirrorball, there were several mirrorballs on stage with bright lights shining at them as they rotated.  It was very cool with that lovely piano.

The opening songs were the same as at Madison Square Garden.  I knew they played different sets but I was getting a bit nervous I was in for the same show.  Although I enjoyed “Ful Stop” more because I could see what Thom was doing (whatever that instrument is).

Colin Greenwood came out from between the drummers a lot more on this night,  He spent a bunch of time near his brother, like during the beginning of “15 Step,”  They played that at my show, but I had completely lost track of the order so I didn’t know if it was the same as last time.

Then they pulled out “Lucky “and I knew that things were going to be different.  It was so great to hear this song live.

They played “Kid A” again, which was fun but my row went nuts went the next song came on.  Before the show they were asking each other what song they most wanted to hear.  The guy next to me wanted “Like Spinning Plates,” which the other guy said they never play live.  The other guy said he wanted to hear “Videotape” (I still wanted to hear Paranoid Android but didn’t chime into the discussion).  Well, when they started “Videotape” the guy went bananas, he was so loud and excited that I’m sure he couldn’t hear most of the song.

They played a song from Pool (that I hadn’t heard at MSG) “Decks Dark” and then played another song from OK Computer,“Let Down,” which was fun to hear live as well.

Up next was “Everything in Its Right Place” I really enjoyed hearing it at MSG and it sounded even better this time.    It was followed by my favorite electronic drum beat–the fast pattern that opens “Bloom.” And once again, they brought out the small kit for Jonny to play.

We were all pretty exited to hear the ballad “House of Cards” (I swear the guy next to me was explaining what the song was about to his girlfriend).  The clean guitar and vocals sounded fantastic.

Apparently there was a setlist change because one song was listed but instead Thom said they were going to be “Op…timistic.”

Then came “Idioteque“, not as an encore this time!  When the song shifts to the loud fast section, it’s really terrific. It was great having a clear view of Thom getting really int it, although I still couldn’t see what Johnny was doing.

For the encore, Thom came out to the piano and played “Spectre,” which I enjoyed a lot more this time.

Then they brought everyone back up dancing with a stadium ripping “Myxomytosis.”  This was the song that I was afraid would suffer in sound quality because I was on the side of the stage–I thought it would be very echoey, but they did a tremendous job and the song sounded great.

They played “Exit Music for a Film” again, but this time Thom was on piano.  It was wonderful to hear it in a different style.

Then the two sets of small drums came out for Jonny and Ed to play during “There There.”  It was cool seeing from this angle that Jonny and Ed were doing the same thing.  And it was even cooler seeing Jonny switch from drum to guitar and back again.

I was still hoping to get Paranoid Android but instead they played the biggest surprise of all to me “The Tourist,”   When they started it someone behind me said “Are they serious?”  It was a delight to hear, but it upended the whole ending-your-set-with-rockers-and-fan-favorites idea.

Then there was the second encore.

At MSG, the very drunk girl behind me said she wanted to hear “The Bends” as an encore.  We didn’t on that night, but we did on this one.  It was so guitar heavy and grungey, a real fun throwback.

When I saw Ed and Jonny go next to each other for the opening notes of the next song, I knew we were getting “WeirdFishes/ Arpeggi” which was great.  It’s a favorite of mine from In Rainbows.

Since this was the last night of their tour, we wondered if they would play an extra song or go extra long.  They ended (like my MSG shw) with “Karma Police.”  I was a little bummed, except that it sounded fantastic and the crowd was really into it.  In fact when the song was over and they were leaving, the fans started singing the chorus again and Thom played along on his guitar, giving us just a little bit extra.

So no “Paranoid Android” for me.  They played 4 nights at MSG an 2 nights at Wells Fargo.  Out of 6 nights they played it 3 times, and I missed it both times I went.

And yet both shows were spectacular and I had a great time.  I even managed to park near the exit and didn’t have to wait at all in any kind of exiting scenario!

 

I never would have guessed, but Markit Aneight recorded the whole show

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]

• [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
• 

 

Because I’m a masochist I had to see what the setlist was for the first Philly night.  When I bought that ticket I don;t think I decided which night I would go–I wanted anything I could get.  So I blame fate for which night I went.  But in comparison, I would have liked to hear 2 + 2 = 5 and Airbag for sure.  And actually Talk Show Host and Wolf at the Door would have been pretty cool too.  And look, there’s my white whale Paranoid Android.

But my show was terrific and I won’t be upset that yes, night one might have been the better night (at least for me).

1. Daydreaming
2. Desert Island Disk
3. Ful Stop
4. 2 + 2 = 5
5. The Gloaming
6. All I Need
7. Pyramid Song
8. No Surprises
9. Airbag
10. Separator
11. Bloom
12. I Might Be Wrong
13. Talk Show Host
14. Nude
15. The Numbers
16. The National Anthem
17. Idioteque
18. Decks Dark
19. A Wolf at the Door
20. Bodysnatchers
21. Feral
22. Fake Plastic Trees
23. Present Tense
24. Paranoid Android
25. Street Spirit (Fade Out)