Key To Music Grades

A - You will never be whole without it
B - Highly recommended
C - Flawed, but still pretty good
D - It's your money, not mine
F - Why couldn't this have been burned in Fahrenheit 451?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Radiohead - All Points West Music Festival, Liberty State Park - August 8, 2008















After watching the end of Michael Franti & Spearhead, wracking my brain for solace from New Pornographers (and the brief rain), experiencing a mixed sort of repetitive soullessness from Underworld (which was good and bad), and hearing some Columbia U professor ramble on about how I should save Tibet for twenty minutes (which is not the venue for such a thing, in my humblest of humbles), the Only Band That Matters finally came on. Bogsmack and biffle to ye who would dispute otherwise.

The sound was absolutely flawless -- which is to say, no need for earplugs. I generally wear them to protect my ears, but I am also inherently opposed to them because they muffle the finer points of some music. Thank you, Radiohead, for taking care of that for me. Clear sky. Perfect weather. Glorious, pristine fucking sound. Statue of Liberty to the east. Manhattan to the north. And 25 songs! I feel selfish for still wanting more afterwards, but what would you do, Mssr. Montserrat?

I'm not going to labor through the playlist and insult your reading abilities, but I will say a few things. The completely electric version of "Jigsaw" was ridiculous; "Reckoner" sounds immensely better live than the studio version (which is nothing short of amazing, for those in the know); hearing "The Gloaming" live is pure fucking bonkers and sent tingling little impeticles straight through my fortified wazzle; "Paranoid Android" still resonates incredibly well, even after a decade of wear and tear; "You And Whose Army?" was poignant, painful and inspiring all at the same time. Thom's voice was simply tip-top; Jonny was an animal (especially on "Just") and it was great to finally see just how Phil plays that irregularly unsettling beat on "Videotape." And even know I know it's not, sometimes, even for a night, everything was in its right place. A+

And by the gods if I can go again tonight I will I will I will.

Setlist:

15 Step
There There
Morning Bell (Kid A version)
All I Need
Lucky
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
Optimistic
Videotape
Reckoner
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
You And Whose Army
Idioteque
Climbing Up The Walls
Bodysnatchers
How To Disappear Completely

Encore I:
House Of Cards
Pyramid Song
Paranoid Android
Dollars & Cents
Street Spirit

Encore II:
Cymbal Rush (from Eraser)
Just
Everything In Its Right Place

6 comments:

Cinnamon Girl said...

Have fun!

taotechuck said...

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Q!

Master Cianan said...

I'm glad they didn't play creep. good for them.

Jeff said...

Awesome set, I am dying to see Radiohead live but every time they come around I have something blocking me from seeing them. How was "Lucky"?

Anonymous said...

Master Cianan,

There have been rumors that they're more open to playing it nowadays, but most of their true fans don't even care for it anyway. I personally would prefer any of the 25 songs they played to "Creep" and would have been disappointed with its inclusion -- unless they played like 50 songs; perhaps I wouldn't mind as much.

Jeff,

Fucking chills, man, chills. "Lucky" was great. In fact, something I forgot to mention in the post, for several songs they started the song with a brief, nondescript electronic intro, in a way to keep you guessing what it was. "Lucky" was the first to do this. I was totally tricked with "How to Disappear Completely" because they opened with those similar nasty synth notes from "Myxomatosis" as a segue and then the guitar strumming kicked in. Crazy stuff.

BigVoltaBalls said...

You should burn in the fiery depths of hell. thanks for rubbing it in prick.