Radiohead
White River Amphitheater
Seattle
August 31, 2003

I have been officially de-virginized by Thom Yorke. Although, the climax was very slow coming, (no pun intended). Yes, this was my first Radiohead experience.

Opening with "Where Bluebirds Fly", the energy from the crowd was so strong you could literally feel the vibrations from their screams inside of your chest. The band kept the energy up by following the opener with "There There" (“Just ‘cuz you feel it, doesn’t mean it’s there.”).

Radiohead is the King of dramatic effect. Always building and descending, you’re never quite sure whether to dance or lie down and cry. From Thom softly crooning over a mix of subtle liquid beats ("Exit Music (for a film)", "Sail To The Moon") to switching to an electronic induced groove ("2+2=5", "Everything In Its Right Place") there was a consistent change of direction throughout the set.

The band performed nearly every song from Hail To The Thief, neglecting only three of them ("The Gloaming", "I will" and "A Wolf at the Door"). This still left plenty of room in the twenty-one song set. The incredibly beautiful "Fake Plastic Trees" (the only song they played from The Bends) felt like one of the most authentic moments of the evening. Thom Yorke has the ability to display a warm vulnerability such as Chris Martin of Coldplay, especially when he would playfully sing to a tiny camera mounted onto his piano. But, in the next moment Thom would switch to a more eerily haunting persona that would resemble someone more like Maynard Keenan of Tool. This side of Thom was prominently evident in songs like "Sit Down. Stand Up".

If you come to a Radiohead show expecting to hear their more mainstream music such as "High & Dry", "Karma Police" and "Thinking About You", you will probably leave empty handed. Although they have performed some of them on this tour (mainly "Karma Police") it’s been sporadic and scarce on most dates. To be honest though, these songs were barely missed among the immense collection of remarkable songs the band has written. To the vast majority of other bands around today, a song such as "Creep" would probably prove to be the pinnacle of their creative efforts. But, to a band such as Radiohead, the song merely scratches the surface of their capabilities. This is proven by songs like "A Punchup At a Wedding", one of the highlights of the evening.

After a second encore, the evening concluded with Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, (both guitarists), experimenting onstage with their electronic gadgets. They left the crowd with a high definition of assorted and unidentifiable sounds resonating in their ears. I now understand why Radiohead is considered one of the most innovative and groundbreaking bands of all time. Now I’m off to buy every record they ever made. I have been converted.

Melody Alderman

Northwest Music Scene
09.03