I've never really liked Radiohead that much, which is why I'm trying to figure out why I paid 90 dollars and braved LA traffic on a Friday afternoon to see them in Santa Barbara on June 29.

Something inside of me wanted to see if they could actually manage to float the sounds of their last two records in a live environment. Something inside of me wanted to know how the hell they were going to turn a five-piece rock band into an electro beat-producing sound machine. Something inside of me wanted to see them fail trying.

As the sun began to set over Santa Barbara and the large chunk of the Pacific visible from the amphitheater, Radiohead opened their set with the Morphinesque "The National Anthem" from Kid A, with Thom Yorke squawking the saxophone part with his voice.

From there the band charged through a myriad of songs. They seemed to be in a hurry, as they stuck very much to the formats of the songs as they were recorded. Between songs they would all change guitars, or a roadie would roll out Thom's piano or his Fender Rhodes.

I wondered: are they really going to play a show made up entirely of three-minute, power chord-driven stomps? Must they all change guitars between every song? Wait a minute! Is Thom Yorke actually dancing and playing the tambourine?!

Indeed, Thom Yorke was dancing, and it looked like he was enjoying himself, too. And why shouldn't he have been enjoying himself? He's the leader of a band that has done exactly what they've wanted to do on their last three albums (which I had, up until June 29, mistaken for some of the most vile pretension known to man; I hereby concede to anyone I've debated this point with over the last few years).

The band really took off with "Idioteque" from Kid A. Thom picked up (or, rather, a roadie handed him) the tambourine again, and he blasted into some of the most erratic dancing I've ever seen a sullen rock star pull off. He even ventured to the front of the stage to clap hands with the fans.

In general, they drew heavily from OK Computer, The Bends and Kid A throughout the show. Surprisingly, they only played a few songs from Amnesiac, which came early in the show, with the exception of "You and Whose Army?".

At times it was hard to believe the sounds the band was making with what is basically a three guitar line-up. Jon Greenwood twiddled knobs and manipulated the Theramin as much as he played guitar. Colin Greenwood played both the acoustic and electric basses, and Ed O'Brien had his guitar running through a plethora of bizarre effects in order to pull it all off. And pull it off they did.

After three encores, Radiohead left the stage. There was something triumphant about it. Or maybe that was just me finally realizing how good they really are.

-Robert Young

Junkmedia
07.01