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By Mike Hernandez
Photos by Maria Carullo
If you close your eyes during a Radiohead concert, you forget that you are at a live show and not listening to your iPod. You can quickly disregard the fact that you’re in a sold out venue in West Palm Beach and that thousands of Radiohead fans are feeling the same exact way as you are.
South Florida was host to the first show on Radiohead’s year-long tour in support of their In Rainbows album on May 5th. Fans arrived early to get a good parking spot, and the anticipation was killer as techies on stage set up long light pillars hanging from the ceiling. (You know it’s not a Radiohead concert if there isn’t a flashing, vibrant light show.)
Radiohead's Johny Greenwood
When the lights finally dimmed, everyone in the Cruzan Amphitheater simultaneously rose as if the National Anthem was about to be sung. Bassist Colin Greenwood appeared first, slowly followed by the rest of the group, with Thom Yorke in his sly white suit coming on stage, front and center.
"All I Need" opened up the night, with it’s comforting tone setting everyone at ease, as if saying, "yes, we are here, we’re real and playing live" and the live atmosphere was amazing. Old favorites were in their set list, like "Just," "Airbag," a haunting and mesmerizing performance of "How to Disappear Completely" and my personal favorite "Optimistic."
Drummer Phil Segway & lead singer Thom York
"Idioteque" was a real crowd pleaser with its convulsion of neon lights spraying the stage, but more obscure tracks like "Bulletproof" and "Exit Music (For A Film)" were great treats for longtime fans.
Minus one song from the new album, they played the tracks from In Rainbows to near perfection. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" had its kinks. The band, after completing the song, replayed the crescendo, Yorke apologized for the mistake afterward.
But, it was OK. They’re Radiohead, they can mess up and we will think it’s the most amazing variation of the song ever made. That adds to the allure and the genius that is debatable amongst listeners of Radiohead. Is Yorke a complete genius or is he a pretentious mad-man? Is Radiohead nothing more than a blown-up rock band that gives the perception of being original, or are they that rare gem of a band that have consistently delivered new and refreshing works of art that are on the cusp abstract, radical and inventive songs?
Radiohead's Ed O'Brien
Whatever the argument might be, all debates are halted when Radiohead performs on stage. They sound so familiar yet mysterious, and it doesn’t hurt that Yorke is that iconic idol that never asked to be one, and crowds flock to him and embrace him because of it.
Their performance is a multitude of attitudes and feelings that is cultivated in a two-hour time span. This leads me to believe that most people have PRCW, also known as Post-Radiohead Concert Withdrawl, a condition in which someone is so captivated by the performance, that all they think about in the days after is Radiohead.
Radiohead's Ed O'Brien & Johny Greenwood
Yorke puts it best in "House of Cards," where he sings, "I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover". Oh, the pain of it all, that we and other cities are just one night stands, but no one minds. We’re lucky to be called Radiohead lovers for one night. That in one great night, with arguably the greatest live rock band of our generation, that they give us a haunting and amazing performance, with the closer "Street Spirit" as a fitting end to a masterpiece of a show.
Let us know what you think, email us at: outloud@outloud.com.
Radiohead's Thom York
Radiohead's Ed O'Brien
Radiohead's Johny Greenwood & Thom York