Walkin' in your landscape
Jun. 28th, 2008 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
biffyThere's always been something about Radiohead fans that bothers me. Or rather, I think it's the image that non-Radiohead fans have of us. Walking round the Victoria Park arena before the gig I saw such a wide range of people, albeit most of them in the 20-35 age bracket. Now, I would count myself as someone who is, probably quite unhealthily, obsessed with Radiohead. I have been a fan for many years, I can happily talk about them, their songs, and how they might make me feel for hours on end. If it didn't sound completely pretentious I might go as far as to say I was a Radiohead conoisseur. All of my friends who we met up with for this gig are the same. But on Wednesday night I remembered that there really is such a thing as a less-passionate Radiohead fan. A fan-ette if you will. I overheard snippets of conversation from people who hadn't heard In Rainbows, even some who didn't own OK Computer. To me, this might be unthinkable, but to them this was just a nice night out with a bit of music thrown in. For the £50 ticket, £40 travel amd £25 accommodation that me and Mr Sylv had shelled out each (in theory - he paid for most of it on his trusty Barclaycard), we were expecting Thom to come out on stage shooting fireworks out of his arse and riding a golden elephant. Having said that, we were perfectly... even ecstatically happy when he didn't. Anyway, the point is, people may think that the "hardcore" Radiohead Elite are a bunch of shoe-gazing miserablists but this show was about jumping around, singing until you are hoarse, and punching the air with delight. Fun, pure and simple.
The weather that day was gorgeous. The sun was starting to set when Thom, Ed, Jonny, Colin and Phil made it on stage at about 8.15pm. Thom seemed in quite an ebullient mood, although there was minimal banter between songs, but he did utter the phrase "Cool beans" at one point which made me giggle.
As for the set... wow. It was great to hear all the newer stuff that they've released since I saw them last but really it was the oldies that made the night for me. 'Lucky' came quite early on in the night but as soon as it started I had goosebumps. Later on with 'The Bends' and 'My Iron Lung' in the first encore we had a good old singalong. A nice mix of old and new throughout the set kept those of us that knew everything squealing with happiness at every flip between In Rainbows and The Bends.
'There There' has never been one of my favourite songs, despite having a brilliant video, but it was damn good live. Ed and Jonny on their drums contrasted in quite a hilarious, but typical, way. Ed, ever serious, still throughout, solidly pounding away. Whilst Jonny was literally bashing the crap out of his, hair hanging down, swinging violently from side to side, and generally giving his all. Not that Ed wasn't giving his all - he was just doing it in his own way. Thom yoyo'd perfectly between crazy ants-in-his-pants dancing and standing stock still, mesmerising the crowd. Phil I couldn't see of course, being the shortarse that I am, expect for on the screens at either side of the stage. He looked very dapper in a shirt and tie. Colin was his usual quiet but bouncy self, occasionally coming to the front of the stage to get the audience clapping along, but just as quickly disappearing off into the back and into his own little world of bass rhythms.
One of the biggest highlights has to be everyone (including the moaning minnies - more of which in a bit) singing along to 'Karma Police'. They even added another chorus on the end for us to sing. Truly breathtaking.
'Myxomatosis' was a nice surprise. I'd been studying the previous night's setlist intently and wondering why on earth they'd included certain tracks ('The Gloaming' was the one that stuck out for me) so I see 'Myxomatosis' as 'The Gloaming's replacement and it was absolutely stonking. Myself and Dave had been talking about it before the band came on, how we'd both recently discovered a new love for it so when the fuzzy bass kicked in I practically wet myself. I spent a lot of the gig bobbing up and down trying to see over people's shoulders but for this song, and a couple of others that were SO BLOODY GOOD I just stuck my head down and danced my little butt off. Some runs of a few songs kept us dancing for a long time: 'Everything in it's right place', 'Idioteque' and 'Bodysnatchers' before they went off stage the first time is a prime example.
The final two tracks had everyone in a frenzy. I mean, finishing on 'Paranoid Android'? What are they trying to do, kill us?! On the Tuesday they'd finished with 'Idioteque' which I admit must have been bloody amazing but for me, with all the older songs making the evening as special as it was, this really was the better choice of a closer.
It is very tempting to just say that the whole night was amazing, and use far too many superlatives than is probably healthy. But there are a couple of things I can say about the evening that were a little off. First off, the atmosphere. I'm not going to have a massive rant about certain "fans" because, truth be told we were pretty lucky compared with some stories I've heard, and I've experienced much worse at gigs of this size. But really, I did have to wonder about people who talked all the way through the quieter songs - 'Nude' and 'House of Cards' especially. I also heard a few complaints of "Oh finally they're playing something we know" when OK Computer-era stuff came on. Again, I'd be going back to the Radiohead-elite thing again so I won't even go there. It just irks me somewhat that people will pay £50+ to go see a band and then either complain or shout all the way through the set. What's the point? And why whinge about them playing new material? You could have got the download for free if you really wanted to so not knowing songs from In Rainbows isn't really a good excuse for ruining them for everyone else.
Secondly, and this is such a minor thing it's barely worth mentioning, there were a couple of disappointments in the setlist. But compared to the overall haul of 25 songs we were treated to, I'll not begrudge them 'Go Slowly' this time. I wasn't impressed with them starting with 'Reckoner' either but it soon picked up and I kind of forgot about the lacklustre opener.
The whole night went by in a flash, and even now just a few days later it feels like forever ago. And now I feel like I'm injecting the occasion with far too much significance. But then I think about how some people might not even get to see Radiohead and I'm so happy that I've managed to see them twice now. Here's to a third time before I'm too old for this sort of malarky.
SETLIST: RADIOHEAD, VICTORIA PARK, 25TH JUNE 2008
01 Reckoner
02 15 Step
03 There There
04 All I Need
05 Lucky
06 Nude
07 Arpeggi
08 Myxomatosis
09 The National Anthem
10 Faust Arp
11 No Surprises
12 Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13 Optimistic
14 Videotape
15 Everything In Its Right Place
16 Idioteque
17 Bodysnatchers
Encore 1:
18 House of Cards
19 The Bends
20 Bangers ‘n Mash
21 My Iron Lung
22 Karma Police
Encore 2:
23 Go Slowly
24 2+2=5
25 Paranoid Android And now for some photos. I have to point out: THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS. I didn't take my camera because I was a bit scared of having it confiscated or stolen. A few friends hand cameras so I'm waiting on the rest.
The weather that day was gorgeous. The sun was starting to set when Thom, Ed, Jonny, Colin and Phil made it on stage at about 8.15pm. Thom seemed in quite an ebullient mood, although there was minimal banter between songs, but he did utter the phrase "Cool beans" at one point which made me giggle.
As for the set... wow. It was great to hear all the newer stuff that they've released since I saw them last but really it was the oldies that made the night for me. 'Lucky' came quite early on in the night but as soon as it started I had goosebumps. Later on with 'The Bends' and 'My Iron Lung' in the first encore we had a good old singalong. A nice mix of old and new throughout the set kept those of us that knew everything squealing with happiness at every flip between In Rainbows and The Bends.
'There There' has never been one of my favourite songs, despite having a brilliant video, but it was damn good live. Ed and Jonny on their drums contrasted in quite a hilarious, but typical, way. Ed, ever serious, still throughout, solidly pounding away. Whilst Jonny was literally bashing the crap out of his, hair hanging down, swinging violently from side to side, and generally giving his all. Not that Ed wasn't giving his all - he was just doing it in his own way. Thom yoyo'd perfectly between crazy ants-in-his-pants dancing and standing stock still, mesmerising the crowd. Phil I couldn't see of course, being the shortarse that I am, expect for on the screens at either side of the stage. He looked very dapper in a shirt and tie. Colin was his usual quiet but bouncy self, occasionally coming to the front of the stage to get the audience clapping along, but just as quickly disappearing off into the back and into his own little world of bass rhythms.
One of the biggest highlights has to be everyone (including the moaning minnies - more of which in a bit) singing along to 'Karma Police'. They even added another chorus on the end for us to sing. Truly breathtaking.
'Myxomatosis' was a nice surprise. I'd been studying the previous night's setlist intently and wondering why on earth they'd included certain tracks ('The Gloaming' was the one that stuck out for me) so I see 'Myxomatosis' as 'The Gloaming's replacement and it was absolutely stonking. Myself and Dave had been talking about it before the band came on, how we'd both recently discovered a new love for it so when the fuzzy bass kicked in I practically wet myself. I spent a lot of the gig bobbing up and down trying to see over people's shoulders but for this song, and a couple of others that were SO BLOODY GOOD I just stuck my head down and danced my little butt off. Some runs of a few songs kept us dancing for a long time: 'Everything in it's right place', 'Idioteque' and 'Bodysnatchers' before they went off stage the first time is a prime example.
The final two tracks had everyone in a frenzy. I mean, finishing on 'Paranoid Android'? What are they trying to do, kill us?! On the Tuesday they'd finished with 'Idioteque' which I admit must have been bloody amazing but for me, with all the older songs making the evening as special as it was, this really was the better choice of a closer.
It is very tempting to just say that the whole night was amazing, and use far too many superlatives than is probably healthy. But there are a couple of things I can say about the evening that were a little off. First off, the atmosphere. I'm not going to have a massive rant about certain "fans" because, truth be told we were pretty lucky compared with some stories I've heard, and I've experienced much worse at gigs of this size. But really, I did have to wonder about people who talked all the way through the quieter songs - 'Nude' and 'House of Cards' especially. I also heard a few complaints of "Oh finally they're playing something we know" when OK Computer-era stuff came on. Again, I'd be going back to the Radiohead-elite thing again so I won't even go there. It just irks me somewhat that people will pay £50+ to go see a band and then either complain or shout all the way through the set. What's the point? And why whinge about them playing new material? You could have got the download for free if you really wanted to so not knowing songs from In Rainbows isn't really a good excuse for ruining them for everyone else.
Secondly, and this is such a minor thing it's barely worth mentioning, there were a couple of disappointments in the setlist. But compared to the overall haul of 25 songs we were treated to, I'll not begrudge them 'Go Slowly' this time. I wasn't impressed with them starting with 'Reckoner' either but it soon picked up and I kind of forgot about the lacklustre opener.
The whole night went by in a flash, and even now just a few days later it feels like forever ago. And now I feel like I'm injecting the occasion with far too much significance. But then I think about how some people might not even get to see Radiohead and I'm so happy that I've managed to see them twice now. Here's to a third time before I'm too old for this sort of malarky.
SETLIST: RADIOHEAD, VICTORIA PARK, 25TH JUNE 2008
01 Reckoner
02 15 Step
03 There There
04 All I Need
05 Lucky
06 Nude
07 Arpeggi
08 Myxomatosis
09 The National Anthem
10 Faust Arp
11 No Surprises
12 Jigsaw Falling Into Place
13 Optimistic
14 Videotape
15 Everything In Its Right Place
16 Idioteque
17 Bodysnatchers
Encore 1:
18 House of Cards
19 The Bends
20 Bangers ‘n Mash
21 My Iron Lung
22 Karma Police
Encore 2:
23 Go Slowly
24 2+2=5
25 Paranoid Android And now for some photos. I have to point out: THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS. I didn't take my camera because I was a bit scared of having it confiscated or stolen. A few friends hand cameras so I'm waiting on the rest.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-28 10:04 pm (UTC)