A Total Waste of Makeup

Co, the aforementioned BFF, has said that if you don't know who Radiohead is - wake up! I'm sure most people of a certain age, and probably just about everyone reading this blog have heard of them. I firmly believe that you either get Radiohead or you don't. Liking Creep doesn't mean you get them. It's an incredible song and it should be sung with gusto (or played with gusto, if you have Rock Band), but liking their major US single, along with Karma Police doesn't put you in the 'getting it' category. I don't mean to say that with any kind of snobbery, it's just that those particular singles aren't indicative of their body of work. Let me take you back.

I used to be that person. I knew Creep, Karma Police, High and Dry and...well, that was probably about it. Co was turned onto Radiohead by a really big Radiohead fan about 5-6 years ago. She dug them. She turned me onto them because after a couple of listens to their second album, The Bends, I was hooked. I had heard, without much listening, their first album, Pablo Honey, and then their subsequent albums which just got plain weird, on some levels: Kid A, OK Computer, Amnesiac. I didn't get Radiohead. I got some of them, but not the whole package and how they push the envelope and really, really love the music they produce. It was mostly pretty weird to me. Then Hail to the Thief hit, and I was hooked again even though there certainly weren't any radio ready songs, although There There got some play. Co joined their free fan club, WASTE, and got tickets for us to go their show at Merriweather in 2003, and then again in Houston, a few hours from where she was going to school.

WASTE was kind to us. They gave us fourth row center seats to the Merriweather show. I'd never been that close to a rock concert in my life. I knew The Bends inside and out, and was pretty familiar with Hail to the Thief. Off to the show we went. Besides being stunned by our view (the tall, dark and handsome Brit playing guitar/singing/orchestrating on the left side of the stage, Ed O'Brien, helped a bit too), I literally watched and listened to the show open mouthed in awe. One of the "weird" things about some of their previous albums to me was all the strange sounds and computer/digital manipulation (National Anthem), the way songs would start slow then rip into something kind of crazy then mellow out again into a gorgeous third act of the song(Paranoid Android), pseudo-electronica (Idioteque)...just generally songs that didn't follow a pattern. It was hard for me to find the hook to latch onto, pun intended. Most of the music I listen to is pretty straightforward. It may be varied, but straightforward. I also wondered how in the world they would recreate those things live.

Well, kids. They recreated them perfectly. The coolest thing about the Hail to the Thief tour was the way they ended the show with Everything in its Right Place. The guitarists (aforementioned tall drink of British water) Ed and Jonny Greenwood have all kinds of pedals and sound boards and sound thingamabobs at their fingertips and would do their thing during certain songs. During Everthing... Jonny and Ed captured and remixed the song - they don't even play their guitars. Each band member walked off the stage one by one, but the music they had been playing was still going, thanks to the magic machines. It sounds like a weird explanation and the die hard Radiohead fans are probably rolling their eyes at my stupidity (click here for a video from the Glastonbury festival to see it in action, fast forward to around the 4 minute mark or so to see them start leaving), but it's how I remember it and it's what made me GET Radiohead.

Fast forward over the years, The Bends and Hail to the Thief were still on the heaviest rotation, but there were songs from the interim albums that I found loving more and more because of the show like Everything in its Right Place, Idioteque, You and Whose Army. Songs that were just simply hauntingly beautiful like How to Disappear Completely and Optimistic. Co remained the hardcore fan out of the two of us. As she knows because I ask her song names constantly, I'm crap with Radiohead song names. I'm getting better, but she's the one who knows their entire library inside and out. In Rainbows came out and I didn't get it, once again. There were a couple of songs that I liked immediately, but it wasn't something I listened to a lot. I can't say I wasn't excited to see them again for two shows, after 5 years, but I wasn't dying to hear the new stuff either.

It all changed, once again, once the first notes of 15 Step were played in Houston, the first show. Again, I stood there with my earplugs (it really is a better listening experience, although there are drawbacks too like being able to hear the people around you sing along) with my mouth open, knowing more lyrics and just in awe of such an amazing show. I found myself closing my eyes and listening because it's so amazing. Co said she did the same thing and forced herself to open up because it wasn't everyday we got to see them. Dallas was another great show, but they changed the setlists quite a bit, so they really were two different experiences.

Our seats were also very different this year. WASTE was not as kind to us. We were closer in Houston, but way off to the side. In Dallas, we could see the very cool screen behind the stage at this show (click on any of the linked song titles for a bit of show and to see the screens), although we were further towards the middle and we were on a main aisle where all hell broke loose around us.

I remember the fans during the 2003 shows being very respectful and obviously ridiculously stoked to see Radiohead. When you meet a Radiohead fan who gets it, hold tight. It usually requires a 'buying in' of sorts to their body of work, the huge jumps between different songs, different sounds, poetic bordering on nonsensical lyrics, the band's devotion to putting everything into their music no matter how it's perceived. However, in Houston, there were allllll kinds of people. I don't expect to see someone waving their beer or flashing the devil horns/long horn hands at the stage...at Radiohead. But there she was! Or the hippie chick who knew every single word to every single song but looked like she had channeled dancers from Woodstock as she did her crazy thing in the aisle for the entire show. She even had a weird hippie version of the robot. That chick must have burned like 500 calories, easy. She also may have involuntarily committed herself to a mental institution. It's 50/50. Then there was just general pushing and shoving and standing in front of people. Some bad behavior in Dallas, unfortunately, as well as very poorly organized concert logistics. Which made me remember why I don't go to very many shows anymore.

But this was Radiohead. I will make it a point not to miss their tours, since I've been fortunate enough to go to two shows each from their last two big tours. It's something Co and I love to do, and we love to experience it together. The bitterness of the crowd and venue experience in Dallas has faded and it's just the great music and show that remains. The pictures of course don't do anything justice, but since it was beautiful all around, I couldn't help but take them and surround this post In Rainbows.

Videos are from the Dallas show, taken by a fans in the pit or just generally a whole lot closer than us.