I was a bit hesitant at first. I saw on Pitchfork or Stereogum or something that the band was playing there, but initially I didn't intend on going. Not sure why not. As I said, I wasn't as enthusiastic about Radiohead as I used to be, and I don't know, just wasn't inclined to do it.
Only after my friend Tradd offered me a ticket did I reconsider and go for it. I probably got screwed a bit for my hesitance-I paid 96 dollars for my ticket (thirdhand), instead however much it might have been had I bought it right from the band. But whatevs. When the offer came up, I was in the midst of a resolution to get out more and do more stuff and say YES, so I went for it.
The day of the show, I was much more excited than I expected to be. Last Friday morning, I woke up and it dawned on me that, yes, I was going to see Radiohead! I was about to do what I'd have given a toe for not too long ago, and indeed, something I thought I wouldn't ever do. For years, the band had been so prickly and toured so irregularly that I had already consigned them to my "oh well" file of acts I'd never get to see.
But by four-thirty that afternoon, I found myself on the way to Charlotte in the back of a big van with Tradd and three other dudes I'd never met before.
I'm not complaining here (really!) but it wasn't how I imagined I'd go see Radiohead way back when. Not sure how I pictured it-maybe as a date with a girl with glasses (my girl with glasses stayed home, alas), but it certainly wasn't in such a Dazed and Confused kind of way. Its just indicative, I guess, of the way things rarely play out the way you expect them to, not to mention how the public perception of Radiohead had seemingly changed in the last several years.
But anyway, on to the show! After a stop-off at Arby's (not nearly as gross as I remembered it being, though I was possibly aided this time by my wise decision to order a chicken sandwich instead of the horror that is the Big Montana), we got to Charlotte. The excitement was palpable.
Soon we'd be seeing Radiohead!
But first, there was traffic. A lot of traffic. About two miles of stopped cars traffic. All filled with other people on the way to the concert, because as best as I could tell, there was only one road to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Nice civil engineering there, Charlotte.
As there were no options, we waited it out. Scalpers walked up and down the shoulder. People hopped out of their cars to go pee in the woods, or would run into a gas station to get drinks, only to come out a moment later and find that the traffic had moved, and they'd have to run to catch up (though of course, by the time they got to their cars, the traffic was stopped again). Time passed on and on, and before long it was a bit before nine o'clock, about when we guestimated Radiohead would be taking the stage.
Eventually, we got up to the parking lot, and with the van windows down, we could tell the concert had indeed started. "There There" was playing in the distance. We took the first space we could find, and hurried in, while the band played "Airbag."
We had lawn tickets and . . . I'm a small club kind of dude I think. I mean, we walked down as close as we could get to the actual amphitheatre area, but I still felt incredibly far away, and the sound was never quite loud enough to really envelope me in the way a concert should.
As always, I had some issues with the crowd. I mean, for the most part it was fine (huge though, I can't remember the last time I was a concert where so many people seemed packed in so tightly). I, however, almost always have the bad luck of finding a nice spot to stand right next to someone who MUST DANCE in the most dramatic way possible, and with the least respect for anyone else's personal space. Usually its a hippie girl, but this time, it was a dread-locked white dude who bore a suspicious resemblance to Zach de la Rocha. Rarely do I so wish to be in the possession of a taser than I do at a crowded concert. Anyway, lil' la Rocha may or may not have been with another group of jumping, near moshing morons a few feet away, who were led by some hyperactive kid who, after every song, shouted "I hope they play 'Just!'" and then proceeded to shout that chorus. As terrific as it would have been to see "Just" played live (it's a killer song), I was hoping pretty much the whole time that the band would not play it (they didn't). Slightly less annoying were the couple behind me, who seemed to be on a first or second date; the dude kept telling his girlfriend what the song was within a few seconds of it starting, but was completely wrong every time.
Anyway, the show then! I do have to say Radiohead's stage set up and lighting were pretty incredible. A fairly standard but excellently light display accompanied every song, and cameras were trained on each band member, their images projected behind them so that their video images became an essential part of the lighting effects. The best visual moment was on "You and Whose Army," in which all the lights and cameras cut out, except a camera mounted on Thom Yorke's piano, so opening quiet part of the song was performed with Thom's eye staring at the crowd. Thom hammed it up, drawing back and sneer-smiling, and it was pretty damn great.
The set list was . . . ok. Reasonably diverse selections, though the focus was on newer stuff. I was pissed to miss "There There" and "Airbag," but did get plenty of other good stuff. "Idioteque" was incredible-not much different than the album version, but still near perfect. "Optimistic" was introduced as an older song (sort of, I guess) but it sounded great. The only selection from The Bends was "Planet Telex," but that was a major highlight: loud and anthemic, with a nifty purple and yellow light show to boot. It was a good choice, since that song sounds much more in keeping with their newer stuff than say, "Bones", while bringing in some of the big guitars and solos that defined their 90's era. New song "Bangers and Mash" sounded great, and the too brief moment when the almost suffocating tension and reserve in "Morning Bell" lets loose was executed perfectly. The underrated "Where I End and You Begin" was a monster, fast and intense. And "Paranoid Android" was a hell of an awesome and crowd pleasing choice.
Still, the band seemed a bit subdued overall. Part of it may have been being out on the lawn, but the setlist had a pretty large number of ballads and mid-tempo stuff. "Nude" and "Sail to the Moon" back to back? "Sail to the Moon" at all? "Reckoner" seemed like a bit of an odd choice for a set closer too, but that may just be me, since I'm pretty lukewarm on that song.
Anyway, after the show we found our way out of the auditorium (whose staff was kind of enough to give out free cups of water), and I decided against sinking 40 bucks into a t-shirt (which seemed to be some kind of polyester-esque fabric that may not have been flattering on my doughy frame) or a Radiohead sheet (which just looked like dark tie-dye). We hung out playing frisbee in the parking lot for awhile while the traffic cleared, then went on home.
And that's all I've got right now.
PS-being far away made it tough to for me to figure out what parts Ed was playing. Still worried about that guy!
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