Radiohead Live - LCCC, Manchester, 29/06/08
Forget Glasto, The World's Best Band Hold Their Own Mini Festival
While every man and his dog has been pre-occupied with exploits in a field in Somerset, Oxford’s famous five piece brought two of music’s most exciting up-and-comers along for the ride.
Although they were only first on bill it’s easy to see just why MGMT are increasingly becoming one of the most talked about bands in the current music scene. Although some of the songs sounded a little dull and repetitive, they contain just the right elements to be a big band in their own right whilst still keeping a creative edge.
The second support, Bat For Lashes (aka musician Natasha Khan), although less familiar with people were more suited as Radiohead opening act. Bat For Lashes and her team of multi-instrumentalists, called The Blue Dreams, fashioned a sound that was experimental but easy to absorb, much like Bjork in her calmer moments and equally as good.
Almost Every Song from ‘In Rainbows’
But enough of the starters, it’s time for the main course.
Predictably Radiohead opened with the first track off their latest album, the programmed drum frenzy that is ‘15 Step’. Being one of the more upbeat songs in their repertoire it lifted the audience spirits right away with singer Thom Yorke dancing around like a loon and guitarist Ed and bassist Colin encouraging everyone to clap along to the tricky 5/4 timing.
The band then proceeded to play almost every song off their latest album ‘In Rainbows’ with the omission of ‘House Of Cards’ being somewhat baffling as its cool jangly guitar chords would have gone down better than the eerie piano-led ‘Videotape’. As it was an open air stadium (cricket ground to be more exact) the night had a real festival atmosphere and the sound was less caged than a normal indoor gig.
Thom Yorke Cracks a Joke!
Thom gets a lot of stick for being a bit miserable and moody but on this night he was in full happiness mode, walking on stage with a huge smile on his face and even cracking a joke before launching into ‘Optimistic’.
The best thing about a Radiohead gig is that they manage to play all the fan favourites like ‘No Surprises’, ‘The National Anthem’ and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ but still throw in the occasional random track, such as ‘Myxomatosis’ or ‘The Gloaming’, with it all fitting seamlessly. The bouncy reimagining of ‘The Gloaming’ in particular sounded amazing, with its hypnotic bassline and repeated samples sounding like something from an all night rave.
Jonny Greenwood Makes an Impact
Although far from being the most interactive member of the group, Jonny Greenwood does perhaps make the most impact out of any of the band members. Whether he’s playing the disjointed lead riff in ‘Bangers + Mash’, bowed guitar in ‘Pyramid Song’ or the wild solo at the end of ‘Paranoid Android’, he was constantly enwrapped in his own world of music and often adds the key element to most songs.
He and Thom both donned acoustic guitars for the beautiful but short ‘Faust Arp’, giving those who managed to find their way to the front of the crowd a chance to recover after a blast of ‘Just’.
A Perfect End to a Perfect Day
Overall the show was superb, but the usually brilliant ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ lacked energy and felt a bit flat. Whether it was a fault with the electronics or part of some new interpretation but the swirling keyboard samples and crazy voice manipulation that are integral to the songs development appeared to missing.
But the fantastic hard rock ‘2+2=5’, ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ and always brilliant electronic show piece ‘Idioteque’, the best three of the night, were enough to forgive them for this slip up. To end the show the band returned to the stage for the fourth time that night to finish with a flawless rendition of ‘Lucky’ before the 10:30 curfew.
As the final line in Videotape says: “Today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen” – you know what, it wasn’t far off.
