New Yorke

Last Wednesday Radiohead played their final show in NYC to a sold out house in the theater at Madison Square Garden. Although it's already been reported every which way I still wanted to take the time to recount this experience, if only because it's stayed with me for the past 5 days in a way that few shows have.

Radiohead released their first album Pablo Honey in 1993. 13+ years later this band has evolved in ways so few other bands have. They've gone from their original guitar heavy above par rock (i.e. Creep) to produce two of the essential rock albums today (The Bends and OK Computer) in the late 90's, only to take a steep path to experimental computer generated sounds in Kid A and Amnesiac, only to reintroduce more traditional sounds back into Hail to the thief.

The truth is that there are very few bands who have withstood that kind of personal change and come out on the other side a whole and completely cohesive group. Thom Yorke is obviously the most visible of the group, an icon for anyone who's ever felt weird, outside of the norm, perhaps lonely and afraid. My friend Bridget astutely noticed that during the opening band, the Black Keys, you could just feel the angst in the crowd waiting to see Thom. It's as if he is that social pariah who took his alienation and turned it into a crowd of "better, happier" fans. Besides Thom's utter fame as one of the greater musicians of our time, Radiohead is above and beyond a band of guys who stand behind one another. Their music flows and dances between instruments in perfect time, playing off of each other, off of Thom's vocal versatility, and off of the crowd. You literally could not sense an ounce of tension between them, and as an ultimate show of support at the end of the set they all got up and clapped for one another. That is not something you would see at another show. Ever.



Perhaps as a result of their cohesiveness Radiohead can, in a mere 2 hours, take a crowd around the world with their music. The range of songs is unlike any other - going from hard hitting punk to far fetched PC generated pieces to Thom alone under a spotlight. And the crowd at the Theater held on for dear life throughout the entire ride from one song to the next. Just as much as they embraced No Surprises did they wail and sway to the new songs (they played about 6 total, one in particular that caught my ear was "Bodysnatchers). There wasn't a person who walked out of MSG unaffected by the set (including a friend of mine who got to see this show as her first ever Radiohead experience and who subsequently looked like she was walking on air afterwards).

The two hour set flew by in about 30 seconds, and no one I was with was ready to leave. Besides the music, I will make a note that MSG has a gem of a venue hidden inside it with the Theater - they are smart enough to not oversell the GA section, so you can easily see the band from within 20-30 feet without getting crushed (important for a vertically challenged soul such as I).

Finally, as perhaps the icing on the cake, Thom takes time to post on their website about their tour, with little thoughts and pictures. Pretty funny one went up this weekend about the rumor that a Bush daughter was at show #2 at MSG. Link to read that entry is here.

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

If I think of any more talking points about this show I'll add them over the week.

P.S. For anyone who tried to post a comment earlier but didn't want to register, that's all gone now, so post away!