Since being declared one-hit wonders with their single
Creep in 1992, Radiohead has proven to be anything but, rising to become one of the biggest British rock bands around and releasing several Grammy-winning albums. The band has spanned genres, from lightweight pop-rock and simple riffs to complex guitar-driven anthems, jazz-influenced songs and bizarre electronic dance-trance melodies. This experimentation is fuelled by the highly creative natures of the members; lead singer Thom Yorke released his solo electronic album ‘
The Eraser’ in 2006 whilst Johnny Greenwood is a resident composer for the BBC and, in addition to being the band’s lead guitarist, can also play several other instruments including the viola and organ. His brother Colin Greenwood mans the bass and synthesizers, and the remaining two members are Ed O’Brien on guitar and backing vocals and Phil Selway dealing with percussion. Their newest album ‘
In Rainbows’ hit no. 1 in both the UK and US charts and has been a roaring success with both fans and critics.
With all this going for them, I fully expected that the experience of seeing this ground-breaking group live would be, to say the least, memorable. The first time I ever saw one of their performances was on MTV, with Thom singing a rather off-key
The Bends and writhing all over the stage. As much as I love Radiohead, I did cringe a little at the sound. Now that I had the chance to see my favourite band playing, I was curious to see just how far they’ve come. Would they still be able to produce the musical depth of their studio recordings when out on the stage? Is the live singing better than my initial impression? Would I be able to get near enough to the stage to actually see anything without a big screen? Questions, questions. The answer to all of them: yes.
A forest of fluorescent tubes containing hundreds of smaller bulbs hung above the band, creating a flickering, glowing, stalactite-like display. Three large screens showed CCTV-style close-up shots of the band or flashed great stripes of colour and white noise - all in time to a spectacular performance on the part of the main attraction. Opening the set with the upbeat
15 Step, Phil soon had a crowd of 60,000 people all attempting to clap along in time to the rhythm. Needless to say, that broke down pretty quickly, and the less said about those trying to pogo to the beat the better. It was raining, you see, so it was doomed to muddy mayhem. Thom’s mockery of the Scottish weather (‘You should move down south’) was followed rapidly by the guitar-heavy
OK Computer-era
Airbag, which was possibly the best way to make pissed-off sodden Scots forget it all in a flash. The trip down memory lane continued with
There There, and then the band launched back into their newest tracks with the slower
All I Need. The gig continued in a similar fashion, playing all but one of the tracks from In Rainbows whilst also including a further 14 songs ranging from The Bends consumer-weary
Fake Plastic Trees through to Hail to the Thief’s frantic single
2+2=5, with the whole audience raising their arms and roaring the lyrics of the progressive
Paranoid Android - perhaps chosen for the list simply because the line ‘Rain down on me’ was well-suited to the torrential downpour that we were all suddenly enjoying more than a sunny day at the beach.
As many Radiohead fans are often caught debating whether the band was better before
OK Computer’s 1997 release (guitar-rockers) or afterwards (electronica fans galore) this broad run-through of the old favourites left little to be desired, ensuring that die-hard early-years ‘
Kid A shouldn’t have happened’ fans got their money’s worth along with everyone else. It also required a lot of instrument-swapping. The varied sounds featured in the 27 songs required a quick introduction to and exit from the stage of an upright piano, several guitars, an extra set of drums (played by Yorke for
Bangers ‘n’ Mash) and even band members, who would move off stage temporarily instead of loitering through simpler tracks such as Faust Arp, focusing the attention upon the active musicians only; all of whom were on top form. Ed O’Brien’s vocals were perfectly pitched, with long calls and low murmurs weaving through the melodies and perfectly complementing Yorke’s singing, which was in no way comparable to that first video. Johnny Greenwood’s playing brought forth great cheers as he belted out the chords and riffs that fans have been air-guitaring to since 1995. Selway’s drumming kept us all hopping, whilst Colin’s bass lines and strange synth chords ran straight through me. All is delivered loud enough to shake a whale, but in the absence of such a creature the audience was a good substitute. There’s no doubt about it – whilst Radiohead isn’t something you’d request when hitting the dancefloor, it’s impossible to keep still when they go live.
Where are the downsides? What criticisms? Well, Radiohead came onstage after 8pm – more than four hours after the gates opened. Support act Bat for Lashes only appeared at 7pm. That’s a minimum of three hours standing around getting soaked without entertainment for the early birds. If you plan to see them in the future, make sure to avail yourself of hands-free waterproofs, comfortable shoes and good company whilst you wait. Don’t worry, though – the discomfort will all be forgotten when the skinny man sings. Set aside some throat sweets for the aftermath, as joining in with him is nigh irresistible.
Radiohead image courtesy of Ian D under a Creative Commons License.
