...but no one does it quite like Radiohead!
I just saw them again on Friday, for the 5th or 6th time, and I'm happy to report that they are still my most favouritest band ever! There's just something about seeing them live that transcends all other live experiences for me. I think a lot of it has to do with their dedication to producing crystal clear, album-quality sound - at the Molson Amphitheatre! They even made the SKYDOME sound great by putting up velvet curtains to soak up the otherwise unbearable reverb.
The only bad experience I've had seeing them live was at Arrow Hall in Mississauga, which wasn't really their fault...YOU try playing in a giant concrete box, in front of sweaty, teenage suburbanites who were really just looking for an excuse to form a mosh pit. Who the hell moshes at a RADIOHEAD concert??!!!? Thom Yorke gave 'em the whatfor, though, saying they were "at the wrong fucking concert", as far as he was concerned. As a treat, they played Banana Co. which was meant for the nerdy supa-fans that were familiar with their b-sides...*adjusts glasses*. :P
After the concert, Myles and I hung around the CNE to grab some food, since neither of us had time to eat dinner beforehand. While in the washroom, I overheard a conversation about how two girls who paid $160 each for lawn seats (that I got for $50) were turned away at the gate because they were 'too drunk'. SUCKAHZ!!! In an attempt to console the overly distraught puffy-eyed one, another girl told her that she didn't miss much because they didn't play the songs she wanted to hear (which I assume means Creep, and anything from The Bends...*sigh*). It's been FIFTEEN YEARS, LADY! They've been sporting a new sound since 2000, and even though it's very different from their early sound, they still take breaks and perform amazing renditions of No Surprises, Street Spirit, and Airbag, to name a few. My personal fave from the older songs they played was Climbing Up the Walls, which DOES lend itself to their new sound. (Here's their set list, in case you're interested...)
Anyway, I was pretty pleased that I got a chance to see them again. It's been a long, long time, since it's pretty near impossible to get tickets. The first time I saw them was in 1997 and I was EXTREMELY lucky to win tickets for their Opera House gig, which holds about 850 people. I even cut my vacation to Boston short, changing my flight to get back in time to see them, and I'm so glad that I did. The concert was a few months before OK Computer was released, so my sister and I were treated to a sneak preview of almost the entire album. And, as a super-special treat (prompted by the audience's refusal to leave the venue even after they brought up the house lights), Thom Yorke came out for a second encore (before 2 encores became a staple of their concerts) and played an acoustic version of Thinking About You. So very, very pretty...
Wow! I could ramble on for days about Radiohead!! Like, there was that time my best friend drove from Boston to Toronto and back to Boston to take me to see them in 1998. On the drive to the Worcester Centrum, I brought my Japanese EP release, Running From Demons, to listen to, and as coincidence would have it, they started the concert with Meeting in the Aisle as their entrance song, and played Pearly* as part of their set! This doesn't really mean anything to anyone, I'm sure, but the whole point being that these were both songs only available on the Japanese EP at the time...they were giving a little preview of the US EP Airbag/How Am I Driving, which was to be released about a week later.
Okay. I have to stop. I'm sorry. It's just that I love them so very, very much.
