Radiohead - In Concert (1 Viewer)

[Rob V]

If any of you have a chance, beg, borrow or steal tickets to see these guys this summer!! Best show I have ever seen! Incredible musicians that know how to please the crowd.
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[Graeme Clark]

Yes, I agree

 

[Iain Lambert]

I'll try to post my review of the Oxford gig the weekend after next. I am _so_ looking forward to it.

 

[Richard Travale]

Some friends of mine went to the show in Vancouver. I have not had the chance to talk to them about it yet though. I'm glad to hear it was a good show. How was beta band?
Rich
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"A) You can never go too far and B) If I'm going to get busted it is NOT going to be by a guy like DAT."
My Website

 

[Matt Broeska]

i can't wait! i'm going to see them in montreal! ever since i started collecting their concerts in mp3 form i knew they were good live and by the end of next week i'll have all but pablo honey on vinyl!
iain, you're the luckiest guy to be seeing their oxford show! who's opening for them? i heard it's beck and supergrass...
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Yes, its Supergrass, Beck and a pair of local Oxford bands. Since I haven't seen Supergrass live since they opened the preview gig for 'The Bends' its a nice treat
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"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" - Thom Yorke

 

[Steve Y]

Whew!
I was lucky enough to be near the stage at the Shoreline (Mountain View - SF Bay Area) show last night. What a GREAT show. I thought the lighting was perfect, too... aqua-marines for the bobbing 'in limbo' and bursts of electric yellow and red for supercharged moments in 'paranoid android', etc.... anyone else totally excited that they played 'permanent daylight'? this is one of my favorite songs from 'the bends' era (another song also played!) ... but geesh, these guys are TIGHT. I loved all the weird sounds they produced out of the cello on 'pyramid song'... (moving hand slowly up and down the neck)
The Beta Band was pretty good too (it helped that I am familiar with the songs & that was close to the action).. I heard complaints that the music wasn't loud enough further away, but I had earplugs and the sound was great. I moved around a bit during the last part of the set and before the encores, to get a feel for the place... it was completely packed and the lights were illiminating a sea of bobbing heads, lighters, waving arms...
It was threatening to rain all day, the night was merely cloudy, with a nice breeze. I really do prefer the outdoor arenas to the indoor prisons. (though Shoreline security was VERY tight and well-oiled.. you couldn't walk twenty paces without getting your ticket checked)
~Steve

 

[Kevin Leonard]

Well Steve, I went to the Mountain View show last night as well.
I'll put my review this way: hearing Radiohead on your stereo is one thing; hearing Radiohead live...is well, the EXACT SAME THING. True, they were tight and razor-sharp with their playing, but with the exception of a couple songs the band just stuck to the chords. They didn't really try to experiment or reinterpet the songs. It was basically like I was listening to the albums, just at a louder volume. I will say that the rendition of "Fake Plastic Trees" was utterly riveting, though.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't distracted every now and again by something else. For instance I thought quite a bit about the lighting: who does it, how long does it take, anybody get hurt putting them up, how much do they get paid, etc.
Still, since Radiohead hardly ever comes near these parts, I can happily say I saw them live and have the proof. Since it was my 20th birthday yesterday, I can say the concert was a nice present. And trust me, they were plenty loud; I had lawn seating, and the sound was pounding into my ears.
(BTW Steve, did you have any trouble getting out of the parking lot? It took my friend and I literally over an HOUR to leave. And we forced to take the highway, which we didn't want to do.)
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Have you ever noticed anyone driving slower than you is an idiot? And anyone driving faster than you is a maniac!! - George Carlin

 

[Steve Y]

They were fairly note-perfect to the albums, though I liked the amended noodling on "everything in its right place", the more uptempo (almost "islandy") idioteque, the interplay between guitars towards the very end of "in limbo" (definitely not like the album), the clearer lyrics in permanent daylight (!)... etc.
But I do know what you mean about seeing live versions stray from their recorded counterparts... it's definitely more exciting when that happens. Radiohead doesn't really seem to like "jamming" their own music too often, unlike say, Phish or the Musicians Formerly Known as the Grateful Dead (bands I am in no way criticising). Radiohead seems to play their songs as "musical compositions" which can be sped up, slowed down, de-emphasized, emphasized, turned around... but which maintain a certain tonal and instrumental consistency from venue to venue. In other words, "we can't imagine any other instrument making this sound" or "we can't imagine omitting this sound."
Not to defend the choice (I like live versions that show me something new), but there does seem to be a rhyme & reason behind it. One of my concert companions noted that the songs were much shorter than he had expected - in other words, about album length! He had subconsciously expected "live jam-rock" versions of the songs, since a live venue generally means just that.
We did in fact have some trouble leaving Shoreline! It didn't quite take an hour, but about thirty minutes... many people left early (before even the first encore) and probably beat traffic but missed some great songs.
~Steve

 

[Kevin Leonard]

Radiohead doesn't really seem to like "jamming" their own music too often, unlike say, Phish or the Musicians Formerly Known as the Grateful Dead (bands I am in no way criticising).

Hey, criticize the Dead and Phish all you like. I can't stand 'em.
I also didn't want to see jam sessions. Well, let me clairfy here. The last two concerts I'd been to prior to Radiohead were both Bob Dylan. And he took all his old chestnuts and gave them a fresh new spin. I remember him doing one of his country numbers and making it sound like a thrash punk number!
That's the kinda thing I like to hear. Fresh remakes of old songs. Nothing wrong with sticking to the original melodies, mind you; it's just that sometimes you yearn to hear one of your favorite songs in a different tempo, different vocal pitch, etc.
But just to reiterate, going to a Radiohead concert is probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. I hope this isn't true, but like I said, the band seems to have this knack for picking venues that are out of my reach. And I am glad I went.
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Have you ever noticed anyone driving slower than you is an idiot? And anyone driving faster than you is a maniac!! - George Carlin

 

[Nick Sievers]

I'm hoping we can get Radiohead and Supergrass over here in Australia by the end of the year. I would love to see them live again.
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-Nick Sievers.
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mc.asp?alias=Nick_S&type=O&sc=C&ls=T

 

[Kelley_B]

Bastards every last one of you who get to see Radiohead this summer :p
I just could not believe it when i saw that they were not playing Dallas or New Orleans on this tour. But maybe they will tour the south in the Fall when its a lot cooler and they can play outside, because as anyone who lives in the south will tell you its hot as hell outside in the summer and I wouldn't want to play a 2 hour set out in the heat.
Has anyone seen Depeche Mode this summer yet? I am seeing them in New Orleans on July 13th and just cannot wait!

 

[Adnan Sheikh]

What a coincedence...my tickets came in yesterday . Really looking forward to it, even though it means driving over an hour down to Virginia.
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Adnan Sheikh
Resident abuser

 

[Iain Lambert]

oh wow. Saturday's Oxford gig was amazing; the best I've ever heard them. You can find plenty of proper reviews online, and xfm even has the concert for streaming this week, but for now I'll have to contain myself from saying that they were stunning. Kid A and Amnesiac sound like wonderfully crafted albums that would be unsuited to live performance, but they really proved otherwise. Pakt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box in particular made the transition to guitars, live drums and live synth torturing from the genius Greenwood with a sound like Joy Division at their most intense; in fact the one thing that surprised me more than anything about the gig is how Thom seems almost possessed by the spirit of Ian Curtis, such was his energy up there.
Older songs (and there were plenty of them) sounded great too; they even finished their third(!) encore with Creep, after Thom's organ died a couple of chords into Motion Picture Soundtrack to much amusement, and they seemed happy about playing it for the first time in about six years.
As for my really minor quibbles:
1) The weather. After several weeks of amazingly dry and hot weather we did have rain for a fair bit of the afternoon, and the heavens opened towards the end of the set. Still, thats the UK for you.
2) If Hoovers could suck as much as Beck's acoustic support set than there would be no need to invent the Dyson. Its all well trying to prove you're a 'real' artist, but when you're primarily known over here for your funky stuff suddenly coming on like a cut-price Woody Guthrie is bound to be a touch odd.
3) Not a complaint really, as it was slightly amusing, but Airbag did suffer a bit from Colin's bass dying early on; I think he broke it getting carried away when they opened with The National Anthem (which was brilliant, by the way).
But then, as Thom said, '42,000 people, only UK gig; no pressure!'
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"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" - Thom Yorke

 

[Iain Lambert]

quick update: the gig is available for streaming here
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"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" - Thom Yorke

 

[Kelley_B]

Just want to say that I hate every one of you who got to see Radiohead on tour this summer......yes I do

I just don't get why they totally forgot the Southern US???? Hopefully they will have a fall tour and play atleast in Dallas.

 

[Matt Broeska]

for anyone who wants more reviews, check out this fan page.
iain, sounds like it was awesome! and they closed with creep! when was the last time they played that live?!
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

[Iain Lambert]

I'm sure they must have played 'Creep' occasionally; there is that moment of 'Meeting People Is Easy' for a start. I've not heard them sing it since '95 though, and then they immediately followed the song with 'My Iron Lung' to make sure we knew just how much they hated it...
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"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" - Thom Yorke

 

[Iain Lambert]

hmm, it seems that xfm have changed the download thing now; its online tomorrow for a period of two months.
p.s. one cool thing I forgot to mention was the two special t-shirts w.a.s.t.e. had made for the gig; very cool things. As the gig was in Oxford's South Park, I bought the one with Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman dressed up as the Evil Bears, and there was one with Stan-as-Bear and the Matt & Trey versions of the band as well.
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"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case" - Thom Yorke

 

[Sam Hatch]

You got special shirts? You bastard! I'm looking forward to their South Park appearance tomorrow night. I haven't heard anything about the story, but it should be amusing.
Did they play 'True Love Waits'? I heard that it made it onto some recent setlists. Oh well, only one month and four days until the Boston gig... *looks at clock*
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"Negative. I am a meat popsicle."