Radiohead/ Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Merriweather Post Pavillion
Columbia
August 20, 2003

It must be fun being in Radiohead, especially when it comes to playing live shows. At this point, Radiohead have enough songs and enough experience with touring that performing their music is like a five star chef cooking a grilled cheese. They've perfected their older songs; even those from Kid A and Amnesiac can't be invested with any more power or instrumental flourishes. Even Hail to the Thief's songs are executed masterfully and tweaked just enough to keep things interesting.

Watching them play at the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland with smiles plastered to their faces as they cranked out song after song made me realize just how much of a command they have over their audience. Something magical happens when these five men work together. Imagine what it must be like to be able to take the stage knowing that you're about to make a permanent imprint on the memory of thousands of people; to know every note you need to play on the instrument you hold in your hand so well that you're free to lose yourself in the rapturous passion of performance.

For Radiohead, touring wasn't always such an ideal arrangement between artist and audience (see the harrowing tour documentary Meeting People is Easy). But if their stage presence on their current tour is anything to judge by, they're enjoying themselves. They're now confident enough to acknowledge the power they wield as a live unit, and they've developed the expertise needed to harness that power and channel it into one of the best shows you can see today.

Radiohead's North American tour just started and they've overhauled the setlist itinerary that they've been roughly following since 2001's tour in support of Kid A and Amnesiac. They've been breaking out old classics and new favorites and switching up their setlists regularly, which means if you've seen Radiohead before, there will be plenty of surprises.

For one, they started playing "Creep" again. For years, Thom refused to play it, presumably because it was such a misrepresentation of the more unique sound they went on to develop (and the hecklers demanding it at their concerts didn't help either). But Radiohead's audience has changed. Anyone waiting for Radiohead to make another "Creep" has been left in the dust long enough to realize Radiohead's never coming back for them. Thom seems to get some sort of perverted joy out of performing "Creep" now. I think he knows the song is ridiculous, but he's also aware that there's a reason it got the attention it did; that for all its formulaic leanings, "Creep" is still a massive, powerful song. So when they broke into it in the midst of their first set, Thom struck a catatonic pose, his arms tensed up in front of him as if to guard against some looming danger. His face projected on the screen, he stared coldly at the audience with mock derision. He became the wretched outcast of the lyrics before us all.

The beauty of Radiohead is that while Thom is captivating the audience, in this case with his unusually theatrical performance, the rest of the band is conspiring with their instruments, lurking behind him until the right moment comes and they pounce. During "Creep" it was Jonny. It was always his little guitar freakout that made "Creep" grab your attention in the first place. Played live, his guitar positively hemorrhages during the rousing chorus. By the end, Thom's singing "ruuuuuuuuuuun!!!" with enough intensity to shatter glass, still locked in his petrified lunatic stance.

And that's just one song; they played twenty-two more. "The Gloaming" was the opener. It's a bold move for them to start off their concert with one of their weirdest, most electronic songs, but it works thanks to the arrangement they worked out for playing this song live. The whirring bass of the studio version is still there, but just about everything else is different, and there is so much going on. Ed O'Brien's backing vocals are much more pronounced now, especially on this song. He is clearly more confident, singing louder and with more of a range than he ever did before. The biggest change is in the rhythm. Drummer Phil Selway and bassist Colin Greenwood lay down a nice groove that holds the song together while Jonny loops Thom's voice over and over ala "Everything in its Right Place." The result is a disorienting miasma of scattershot noise that lives up to its title.

Another big surprise was "We Suck Young Blood," a creepy dirge that hasn't been played live much. To introduce it, Yorke said "This one's good for a laugh" and proceeded to start the song before he himself burst into laughter. While his lyrics are excessively dark and the song is set at a snail's pace with just halting piano chords and handclaps to drive it forward, Yorke is right that there is humor at its core. It's the pathetic desperation that the lyrics taunt and the matching eeriness of the music that makes this song such an oddity. To make it all the more disturbing, Thom's voice sounds beautiful as it scales registers with relative ease, even when he's spitting out invective like "We want the sweet meats."

The first set was a diverse string of songs that maintained a constant energy even as it dipped into piano-laden lullabies like "Pyramid Song" and "Sail to the Moon." Songs like "Airbag," "Paranoid Android," "Idioteque," "Go to Sleep," and "The National Anthem" match if not exceed the intense force of their studio counterparts and leave the audience electrified. "There There" sounded better than ever with the beefed up rhythm Jonny and Ed play. It's the song's climax that makes it such a worthy addition to Radiohead's catalogue. When Thom broke into the "We're all accidents waiting to happen" segment at the end, the guitars swell and the forceful rhythm pounded so hard, it was difficult not to be moved by the band's impeccable interplay.

"Wolf at the Door" was a treat. This song is made to be played live so that Thom has to struggle to spit out the profuse lyrics. The way he practically raps on this song forces him to sound frantic so that the overwhelming frustration the lyrics express really comes to life. "Dollars and Cents" was another surprise since it hasn't been played at any of this year's concerts. This song showcases a more hypnotic, almost psychedelic side of Radiohead that is appropriately accentuated by the glow of the accompanying lights. Colin plays a smooth, loose bassline over Phil's complicated drum pattern and a droning synth courtesy of Jonny. Free from the constraints of the studio, which saps this song's subtle appeal, "Dollars and Cents" was another highlight.

For the first encore, Thom came onstage alone with just his guitar to perform "I Will." By the song's end my knees were shaking. His voice is astounding; he hit every note of this heart-wrenching devotional ballad, a vow of protection to his son and a cry of defiance against the world's enclosing threats. Soaring above the buzz of crickets, Thom's vocal gymnastics were startling. I've always loved his voice, but I didn't know he was capable of that.

"Everything in its Right Place" appropriately ended the show. No two versions of this song are the same as the samples of Thom's voice always differ. On this night, Jonny caught some of Phil's drum in the sampler so that a loop of snare drum rolls reverberated until the song came to its drawn-out conclusion, a hiss of distorted tones pouring from the speakers as the band waved goodbye and a curious message scrolled across the columns of lights behind them. It said "Forever," and since I'm not sure what they intended by it, I gave it my own meaning. Barring Alzheimer's and amnesia, I'll never forget this.

Lou DiBenedetto

Atrocity Exhibition
25.08.03