Radiohead (05.11.08)

the Band: Radiohead
the Date: Sun May 11, 2008
the Venue: Nissan Pavilion (Bristow, VA)

(Photo credit to Chris Dearnley and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisdearnley/)

As the ticket said the show was rain or shine … and boy did it ever rain. Despite the monsoon weather, the horrible traffic and the hypothermia, the show was AMAZING. What a performance! Radiohead is definitely a band to see even if you need to suffer the elements. The lads focused most of their setlist on the most recent release, In Rainbows, but thankfully they played a few of my personal favorites such as Paranoid Android, Everything In Its Right Place, Pyramid Song, Idioteque, The National Anthem, Fake Plastic Trees and of course Karma Police (okay, so I have a lot of favorite Radiohead songs). One of my favorite moments of the evening (aside from the fleeting moments when I felt dry … or numb) was when my fiancée described Thom Yorke as a funny, crazy, little man dancing on the stage. We love you Thom. You're welcome back any time … just please, please use a different venue.

Full setlist (with big help from the Rockist Society): All I Need / Jigsaw Falling Into Place / Lucky / 15 Step / Nude / Pyramid Song / Weird Fishes/Arpeggi / Myxomatosis / Idioteque / Faust Arp / Videotape / Paranoid Android / Just / Reckoner / Everything In Its Right Place / Bangers + Mash / Body Snatchers / ENCORE / Like Spinning Plates / Optimistic / Karma Police / Go Slowly / Planet Telex / SECOND ENCORE / Fake Plastic Trees / The National Anthem / House of Cards

This is what you get when you mess with us ...

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Radiohead (08.20.03)

the Band: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Radiohead
the Date: Wednesday August 20, 2003
the Venue: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, MD)

(Photo credit to ComandZed and her Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/zara/)

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks was the opening act. They were cool. I missed part of their set.

This was the first time I’d ever seen Radiohead in concert and it was AMAZING! The band consists of Thom Yorke (lvocals/guitar/piano), Jonny Greenwood (guitar/keyboard), Ed O'Brien (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums). I really got into them in college and must have played The Bends a million times.

Everything they played was fantastic and they chose a great setlist. Naturally, they played lots of tracks from Hail to the Thief such as 2+2=5, Sit Down Stand Up, Sail to the Moon, Go To Sleep, Where I End and You Begin, We Suck Young Blood, There There, I Will, Myxomatosis, and Wolf at the Door. Yikes, that was almost the whole album! They played a few classics from Amnesiac (Pyramid Song, You and Whose Army, and Dollars and Cents) and Kid A (Everything in Its Right Place, The National Anthem, How to Disappear Completely, and Idioteque). They also played some great O.K. Computer tunes(Airbag, Paranoid Android, and No Surprises). Man, they did all of these so well! And from The Bends they only played only Just, but that is one amazing tune. Surprisingly, they even played Creep from Pablo Honey. Nice!

All in all, the music was the closest to perfect any human could ever make. Each band member is really, really good at what he does. I still can’t believe that they were making such beautiful sound right in front of my eyes totally live! When they finished the second encore with Everything in Its Right Place, and as everyone slowly made their way off stage, Johnny remained, jamming out on his odd collection of self-designed musical devices, until he too made his way off, letting the magic of the beat carry the audience home. Awesome!

The complete setlist: The Gloaming / 2+2=5 / Sit Down, Stand Up / Where I End and You Begin / Airbag / Pyramid Song / Paranoid Android / A Wolf at the Door / Sail to the Moon / You and Whose Army? / There There / Go to Sleep / Dollars & Cents / We Suck Young Blood / Idioteque / Creep / The National Anthem / ENCORE 1 / I Will / Myxomatosis / Just / How to Disappear Completely / ENCORE 2 / No Surprises / Everything In Its Right Place

Delicious, delicious, delicious (Thom’s opening words to the crowd) . . .