speed of dark

The Best Band on the Planet

You can argue with me about that title, but you aren't going to change my mind. I go for months without listening to Radiohead because, frankly, like having dessert first, they spoil my appetite for anyone else. But then when I put one of their albums on, it's like, Oh yeahhhhhh, THAT's why they're the best! The melodies, the lyrics, the topics they attack, the arrangements, the obsessive attention to detail--it all pays off to my ears.

It is impossible for Radiohead to disappoint me. Radiohead could have played 25 entirely different songs from their 15-year repertoire, and I would have been just as satisfied and awed as I was with this setlist, even though it contained sure-fire personal favorites from all over their discography: "Idioteque," "Lucky," "Exit Music From a Film," "How To Disappear Completely," and "Reckoner," as well as the clincher that first won my heart, "Street Spirit." I did find "A Wolf At the Door," the last track from Hail To the Thief, an odd choice (vs "2+2=5", played at Lollapalooza), but certainly it's somebody's favorite. Oddly, although In Rainbows was well-represented, the set included none of the songs from the bonus disc. According to my camera, Radiohead began playing at about 8:30 and continued until 10:30.

For any band who pays as much attention to the quality of their recordings as Radiohead does, the Hollywood Bowl is the only place good enough for a performance in the Los Angeles area. Sunday night's sound quality was superb, for us marred only by the loud talking of some man directly behind us, who seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the music. I don't know why people like this come to concerts. Maybe they talk through movies too.

Not being among the golden ones who are gifted with the tickets or have thousands/hundreds of dollars for front-section or box seats at the Bowl, we nonetheless had a good view--much better than some years--from a section about half-way up the slope of the bowl. The band greeted the crowd warmly, as if we were old friends, with Colin Greenwood waving his arms at us on several occasions.

At large venues Indie Mom and I both miss being able to watch the band members' expressions and the fine nuances of body language as those who were closer could, but to compensate Radiohead gave us the special treat of the finest light show I have ever seen. It was a 3-D affair composed of LCDs on long strings hanging not just behind the band, but above and alongside as well. These strings have incredible capacities to display not only color--icy blues, watery greens, moody purples, and eye-scorching reds and yellows--but also movement, including the illusions of softly falling rain, sinuously weaving northern lights, and DNA sequencing that spread slowly in straight lines from the upper right towards the left. Finally and spectacularly, they spelled out the title of the final song in huge letters as the band left the stage.

Our setlist was the same that Radiohead played at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on August 6, although it appears that they personalize the voice-over recordings for some songs, like "The National Anthem," for each venue. Our version had a message about tax services. Since I don't at this time know of any recordings of the Los Angeles show, I have chosen MP3s from some of the best recordings I have found from other shows this month. I have tried here to sequence our photos with the songs to the best of my poor memory. So if you are among those not able to see Radiohead on this tour, hopefully this gives you a feeling of what it was like.

Intro

1. 15 Step from In Rainbows (live at Lollapalooza 2008)


2. There There from Hail To the Thief
3. Morning Bell from Kid A (live at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, ON)


4. All I Need from In Rainbows (Johnny bows his guitar, above)
5. Pyramid Song from Amnesiac (live at Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH)


6. Nude from In Rainbows


7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi from In Rainbows


8. The Gloaming from Hail To the Thief

above: "And the rains came down..."


9. The National Anthem from Kid A (Lollapalooza 2008)
10. Wolf at the Door from Hail To the Thief


11. Faust Arp from In Rainbows
12. Exit Music (for a Film) from OK Computer
13. Jigsaw Falling Into Place from In Rainbows (Lollapalooza 2008)


14. Idioteque from Kid A
15. Climbing Up the Walls from OK Computer (at the end, a recording of a woman's voice said "Rancho Cucamonga, can you hear me?"

Click for larger images

16. Bodysnatchers from In Rainbows
17. How to Disappear Completely from Kid A (Blossom Music Center) -- Thom's voice in this song always gives me goosebumps

1st ENCORE
18. Videotape from In Rainbows


19. Paranoid Android from OK Computer

below: "Rain down, rain down/Come on, rain down on me..."


20. Dollars and Cents from Amnesiac
21. Street Spirit from The Bends (Thom messes up, gets annoyed, asks the audience, "Should I just get on with it then?" We scream YES!, he complies)
22. Reckoner from In Rainbows (Blossom Music Center)

2nd ENCORE
23. House of Cards from In Rainbows
24. Lucky from OK Computer (Lollapalooza 2008)

Just before "Everything in Its Right Place," Thom sang, "I’m gasoline/I’m burning clean" from R.E.M.’s song, "Electrolite," (from New Adventures In Hi-Fi, 1996) at once acknowledging the American band's influence, L.A.'s love-time love affair with the automobile, and Radiohead's goal of reducing environmental damage from concerts. In the photo below, note the Tibetan flag draped over the keyboards--a subtle jab on the last day of the Beijing Olympics at China's unkept promises regarding human rights.


25. Everything in its Right Place from Kid A (Lollapalooza 2008)

Click for larger images


Thanks and credit:
Lollapalooza recordings from DJ/NJ Deep-GOA captured by rholland at atease.com, where you can also find setlists

Montreal (08-06-08) and Cuyahoga Falls, OH (08-07-08) recordings from Radiohead Not For Profit, a live music site for Radiohead fans.

Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, Ontario, recordings from SadGettingSadder website

Lyrics and Song Info at Green Plastic Trees website

More about Radiohead's Los Angeles shows by Hollywood Reporter at NewsDaily

See also Music Is Art's poetically descriptive review of Radiohead's Mansfield, MA, show on August 19.