Radiohead/ Willy Mason
Tower Theater
Upper Darby
June 1, 2006
Due
to a stroke of luck, along with the help of a very good friend, I was able to
score a last minute pair of tickets to see the opening night of Radiohead's
North American tour last night in Philadelphia. This marked the fourth time I
have witnessed the brilliance of this outstanding band live, twice in Texas,
once in New York and now in Pennsylvania. As a fan since Pablo Honey,
especially after the release of the My Iron Lung EP, I have watched this
quintet continue to grow and change, always keeping a few surprises up their
sleeves. Last night proved that Radiohead is still just as brilliant as ever.
After making a mad dash out the door from work yesterday afternoon, we
hitched a ride with a co-worker and bolted down the turnpike headed for the City
Of Brotherly Love. A little more than two hours later we pulled into the parking
area near the Tower Theatre, the venue where the night's festivities were taking
place. Seeing Thom Yorke, Jonny & Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Phil
Selway in a theatre rather than an arena was truly a treat, something I haven't
experienced since they performed at the Dallas Music Hall during their OK
Computer tour.
The lights dimmed at precisely 9pm, finally giving us
a glimpse at their stage setup. Suspended above the stage were ten screens,
resembling pieces of broken glass. The lights turned to red as the band stepped
out, beginning with "You And Whose Army." As Thom sang the opening lines - "Come
on, come on, you think you drive me crazy," close-ups of his face were projected
onto the screens, as the crowd pretty much went apeshit. It was fucking
glorious. Wasting no time, they rocketed straight into "The National Anthem,"
with Collin's fuzzed out bass rattling the walls. Keeping the momentum going,
Jonny was given the spotlight as the blazed through "2+2=5."
It takes a
brave band to test out several new songs in front of a very devoted audience. We
were treated to several brand new tunes last night, including "Open Pick."
O'Brien is returning to a much more important role with the new tunes, providing
strong backing vocals and much more highlighted guitar work. This song shows the
band dabbling back in guitar driving rock, which is a promising sign of things
to come on their next album.
Another big surprise was their live arrangement of "Kid A." Stripping
away the vocal effects, we finally get to really hear the great vocal melodies
that were a little robotic on the album version. During the instrumental passage
it was time for Yorke to get his dance on. This would not be the last time we'd
see his flailing arms boogie. It really is great seeing him, along with the rest
of the band, enjoying their time on the stage more and more with each tour.
Obviously I could go on and on with this review, as the band performed a
total of twenty-three songs last night. From the new tune "Nude" to crowd
favorites "Street Spirit" and "Pyramid Song," their main set was just about
perfect. A personal highlight for me was "There There," which just seemed to
rock a bit more than the last time I saw them at Madison Square Garden. As the
layers of vocals and Jonny's guitar thrashing built to an insane climax, it
really felt like the roof was going to blow off the Tower Theatre. There it was,
Radiohead doing what they do best.
For the first encore, the band
exploded into "Airbag", with Selway's drumming precision keeping them right on
track. Radiohead's rhythm section of Ed and Colin are criminally overlooked at
times. Those guys are the heartbeat of the band, lurking in the back behind
Thom, Jonny and Ed. After performing "No Surprises" and new tune
"Bodysnatchers," encore number one ended with the always breathtaking
"Everything In Its Right Place." As the band walked off stage to a roar of
thunder and cheers, the words "Ever and Ever" were scrolling on the screens
behind them.
The fans were not leaving without one more encore, which we
got in the form of "4 Minute Warning" and "Karma Police." As my all-time
favorite band, I really can't express in words how fantastic last night's
performance truly was. Seeing a band of this magnitude in a somewhat smaller
venue on the opening night of their 2006 US tour was incredible. The mix of
songs from most of their albums was just right, although I was sort of hoping to
hear "Climbing Up The Walls." The old tunes sound as good as ever and the new
ones definitely did not disappoint.
Radiohead has proved to me once again that they are the best live band
on the planet. If you got tickets to any of their upcoming dates, you are in for
one hell of a treat!
Chip Adams
The Tripwire
02.06.06