Radiohead/Spiritualized
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY
April 17, 1998

Buoyed by the momentum OK Computer has generated, the group played at Radio City Music Hall with the resolve of an ambitious artist high on validation. Think back to the careers of older greats in that junction when they suddenly seemed to explode, creatively, critically, and commercially at the same time. Such moments stick in the minds of fans forever, and Radiohead is at that moment, here, now. 30 years from today, it will come back, plain as a memory's broadcast can manage, even without the TV playback. Thom Yorke has blossomed into the totally effective frontman from which the band's conviction funnels. Head bobbing side to side, that high-arching voice hitting every note spot on, perfectly, beautifully, even when there's little backing from the band, those bug-eyes seeming to stare at each audience member and recede into his own personal oblivion at the same time. Jonny Greenwood still plays music doctor, whip-scratching into his guitar like an irritated cheetah pawing its cub, then massaging some frail, vulnerable part out of a piano or organ. His brother Colin still turns sideways towards Phil Selway's drums, pushing the band's low-end rumble hard against the bass drum/snare patterns with the precision crash of a wrecking ball. In turn Selway leans into his tom toms and crash cymbals with the slow piston fury of a churning oil rig or freight car. And somehow occupying a big chunk of the stage with a more enthusiastic, good-natured presence, stay-at-home guitarist Ed O'Brien, towering over his mates with his lanky frame, rips the basic chords off like battering a punching bag, then loping towards the mic to back Yorke on key supporting vocals. Most of all, one will remember all this authority poured into material whose resonance can only be called extraordinary.

-Jack Rabid

The Big Takeover
05.98