Monday 15 October 2012

RadiO2head (sans Bends)

Last week, I was lucky enough to get Radiohead tickets at the O2 Arena, Greenwich (thanks EBM). I have known about the band for a number of years - they've been around for as long as I've been alive - but didn't really 'get' them for a long time. I think it was first year of uni, when I started rinsing the Internet and downloading back catalogs on Limewire and BitTorrent,  that the interest really kicked off.

Like many others, before and since, I knew Radiohead for Creep, Karma Police etc., but not much else, and had a similar knee-jerk reaction to others whenever someone mentions the band; haunting, beautiful, but wrist-slittingly depressive music.

The Bends; an incredible album from first song to last
But after the realisation that you could leave your laptop on overnight and download everything a  band had ever done, I quickly became intrigued by their albums OK Computer, and particularly The Bends, which I would have to put in my top ten albums of all time. I did write top five, but after three Led Zep albums there ain't much space left!


Great songs (feels wrong to call them tunes; almost gives them a finite lifespan) such as Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, Planet Telex, The Bends and the divine Street Spirit (Fade Out) are now classics. But the band have moved on a lot since 1995, and I've missed out on seven other albums. Naively thinking I'd hear some of The Bends, I skipped to the O2 arena expecting a singalong!

Obviously, that's not how it works - when a band go on tour, they do so to sell records, and they played a lot of stuff from their latest album, King of Limbs, including opening the show with the superb Lotus Flower (the video for which features Tom Yorke acting out what would happen if a scarecrow got tasered - or Tom Harrod dancing).

That set the tone for the rest of the evening; incredible bass, a wild and vibrant lights show, giant TV screens hovering and floating above the band, changing instruments for each song, but above and beyond everything it amazed me how tight they were as a band. Over 20 years at the top of their game really showed. It was a brilliant night listening to some world-class musicians.

An unusually stationary Thom Yorke






Thom Yorke was a fluid entity on stage, leaping around everywhere, microphone in hand, or guitar  slung across him, if not sitting pouring heart and soul into the piano. And I must mention Jonny Greenwood, who was really attacking his guitar on every note. A truly talented musician. But he must have been shattered after the gig!

After seeing such a well put together show, I am happy to say I am now hooked, and am going to be listening to all of their albums in the next few weeks. However, next time I think I'll listen to the band's stuff BEFORE the gig!
I'll leave you now. It's almost time for the pub quiz, but first I'm going to play The Bends really loudly.


2 comments:

  1. Very jealous. Always wanted to see them live - still not managed it!

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  2. Such luck, but glad I saw them!

    ReplyDelete