O.K. let's clear some things up right off the top. I am not the biggest Radiohead fan in the world, the country, the province or the city. I'm also not the biggest fan of big stadium rock shows. What this all meant was that I would probably be the only person here for Radiohead's appearance in Toronto who wasn't a huge Zealot of the bands. So with some trepidation, I entered the hallowed (half) halls of the Air Canada Centre. (I can now understand the dual meaning of the building's nicknamed, The Hangar).

Immediately the question of whether Radiohead would play their latest album, Kid A in its entirety (as some fans speculated) was answered in the first bars of the opening number, "The National Anthem," the third song from the record. The dramatic interplay of the taut bass and drums (one of the most dynamic moments on the subtle new album) began the process of whisking the partisan crowd into two hours of musical bliss. The quintet, led by Thom Yorke performed material from both The Bends and OK Computer as well as the majority of Kid A and even several songs destined for the upcoming album, Kid B.

Though there was some concern over how the newest material would translate to the live stage, the songs from Kid A were the musical highlights. The quiet passionate dynamics of "Everything In It's Right Place" and "How To Disappear Completely" were a strong counterpoint to the hazy looping hypnotic pace of "Idiotique," the highlight of the show, which closed the band's main set. The meticulous representation of the material from Kid A stood out above the loose experimental renditions of older material. "Airbag" and (later in the encore) "The Bends" suffered from this reinterpretation.

The prerequisite encore featured a sketchy rendition of a new song whose title even Yorke was unsure of, "I think it's called 'The Pyramid Song'," he quietly announced. Sitting at the stand-up piano accompanied initially only with Colin Greenwood on bowed bass, Yorke gingerly plonked his way through the mesmerizing ballad complete with two floor-mounted mirror balls that turned the place into a gigantic snow globe.

Still when all was said and done, Radiohead won the day. As one of my friends proclaimed after the show, "I think they are the best big-time rock band in the world today."

-Chris Burland

Chartattack
18.10.00