Radiohead

Ugh, I meant to finish this a week ago, but I believe some attention is to be made of the show that Radiohead played at Verizon on the third of August. It was a massively hyped show. But first:

Grizzly Bear. They indeed opened for Radiohead that evening. A friend of mine had made the comparison to them as "Radiohead, just with out a polished sound." Perhaps a more appropriate description could be that "Grizzly Bear isn't marketable enough to be featured on a major record label, and so subsequently doesn't have access to millions of dollars in studio equipment; useless equipment for that fact that gives it that pristine, major record label sound quality." Overproduction sucks.

I made this point to Scott Archer: I like Grizzly Bear because at times, they sounded like RocketBot, with lots of electronic and ambient sounds, but still with that indie rock influence that we all love to hear. I downloaded a record of theirs; titled Yellow House. It sounds like what I've just described. Download and/or buy this record. It's worth my suggestion to do so.

But soon, the crowd grows weary and reeks of anticipation, as Radiohead is setting up on stage. Before I get into the set list of Radiohead, I'd like to point out one thing; Oh my fucking God, the majority of fans at Radiohead seemed like fucking moronic asshats. I do not lie. Beer-toting, cigarette/pot smoking (Robbing me of my clean air, for that matter.) young adults. Call me a snob, but it's entirely tasteless to liven up a Radiohead show by getting wasted on cheap, mass-produced, American, Coors beer, and/or to use an absurd amount of drugs. I don't know. It bothered me, to an extent. I was just surprised by the sheer amount of drug use.

But anyways. The playlist was almost expected on my behalf. In Rainbows was played in its entirety, and was well played for that matter, despite the amount of electronic extras used in it (We can thank Jonny for that, for playing on his laptop during the show).

None of this is in order, mind you. I'm just writing this out of order.


Then a subsequent mix of Amnesiac, and Kid A. I was quite happy to hear Pyramid Song, personally. And finally, odds and ends from The Bends and OK Computer. And what, only two songs from Hail To The Thief? What a shame. Radiohead fans clamor that Hail To The Thief is rushed. So what if it was recorded within a matter of weeks? I have no qualms with the musicianship of the record, and just absolutely adore the political premise of the album, despite what Thom claims it to be, and not to be. It's a fantastic record, and still my favourite Radiohead record.

The light show. My goodness. I was quite pleased to see some creativity go into, really, not even just the lights, but even more so the giant televisions used by the crowd in the lawn. Very Andy Warhol inspired. But then again, I rarely go to shows. Large shows at least. At least in there are decent venues in Bloomington, that aren't just reserved to bars and pubs.