Thom Yorke must be taking rock star lessons.
What else could explain the normally stage-wary lead singer-guitarist of Radiohead pumping his fist and leading a clap-along during last night's sold-out show at Maple Leaf Gardens?
Previously Yorke - he of the gorgeous choirboy voice - has delivered the British band's expansive, melodic music with a furious shake of his head and the occasional shy smile. While both of those moves were in abundance at last night's performance, which sold out in a mere 90 minutes, Yorke came further out of his tiny shell. His antics even led to a mosh pit, for God's sake - albeit 45 minutes into the concert - during a strobe-light enhanced rendition of Planet Telex from the group's 1995 album The Bends.
Normally a Radiohead show - this is their third Toronto appearance since last June, when they released their critically-acclaimed album OK Computer - involves the five man-group from Oxford, England, playing and the rest of us staring as if in a hypnotic trance. (That came earlier with trippy opening act Spiritualized, also from across the pond.)
This time, however, there was a slick lighting show and the aforementioned stages moves from Yorke accompanying Radiohead's mood-enhancing, melancholy music.
The set list was equal parts the expansive, progressive OK Computer and Radiohead's earlier, more accessible The Bends.
Song highlights included Karma Police - the audience screamed during the chorus - the rocking title track from The Bends, the equally intense Just, the dreamy Subterranean Homesick Alien - on which Yorke played keyboards - the fist-pumping Lucky and the clap-happy Iron Lung.
Co-anchoring the group - just named among SPIN's "40 most vital artists in music today" (second only to Beck) - was long and lean keyboardist-lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who bent over his instruments at what appeared to be painful angles.
Radiohead's appearance came just before tomorrow's Canadian release of a limited edition EP, Airbag/How Am I Driving?, which includes six previously unreleased tracks from the OK Computer sessions.
Meanwhile, Spiritualized, who last played at the CN Tower in November to set a record for "the highest show on earth," possessed a big spacey sound that gave Radiohead something to aim for in the atmosphere department.
But noticeably missing in action from Spiritualized's set was a track from their latest album, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, which is currently featured in an ad for the new Volkswagen Beetle.
Rating: 4/5
-Jane Stevenson Toronto Sun
13.04.98