Radiohead - San Diego
Location: El Embarcadero in San Diego
Author: Arturo Perez
Photography: Sevonne Alossi
Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief was a great and beautiful album, but for fans who are used to the monumental musical changes that are found in The Bends, OK Computer and Kid A, it left us wondering if Radiohead’s musical creativity had peaked. I must admit that when I listened to “I Want None of This,” the single for charity released by the band in early 2006, I heard a very beautiful but uneventful track that reminded me of earlier works. Like Hail to the Thief, Radiohead’s music started to come to familiar grounds, the signs of a band at age. I should have been more faithful when Mr. Thom Yorke emphasized that Hail was an intentional compilation of all of their best influences, meant for the band to enjoy the creative process in-studio. Yorke’s The Eraser proved that his own work could explore new, more personal and intimately beautiful areas of his creativity. In the meantime, the new songs I heard online (yes Thom, on YouTube), came off heavy on guitar.
I must also admit I did not know how to think of them prior to watching their live performance in San Diego, CA. Now I know that they are the works of the best band in the world, still peaking, still surprising, and still bringing metaphysical possibilities to the forefront of our reality. And because, if I keep writing in paragraph form, I will succumb to a long pompous philosophical analysis of their work, like only Radiohead can inspire me to do, I must come to the forefront of the 21st century and summarize in bullet points what I learned about Radiohead on this wonderful San Diego performance:
1. Thom Yorke is getting closer to his desire to be like The Door’s Jim Morrison. Both, “Idioteque” and “Myxomatosis” took him in this direction, with the latter song being reworked to a very different vocal energy level.
2. When Yorke tells us that he is shooting to make the perfect disco song, he really means it! Songs like “15 Step” have really strong dance beats. For a few minutes there, I felt I was at a trance show, with a Radiohead twist.
3. It’s the blues! Radiohead style. Some of the new songs are really heavy on the blues, taking the band to a whole new level. Online, some of these songs sound like a progression of The Bends, but once in front of you, they are nothing like it.
4. As evident from above, the band has no creative issues. Radiohead has always been good at imitating other styles and filtering them through their own. With their wide listening interests, we might be hearing new styles for a long time to come.
5. Radiohead are a stronger unit than we can imagine. Once inside the photo pit, it became evident that they had put on an energy wall that separated them from the audience. The band built on their energy from each other and passed it on to us with a strong collective force.
6. Taking pictures of Radiohead up close can be both, exasperating and intimidating. Watching Radiohead from up close while “National Anthem” is playing is not for the faint of heart. I only remember Thom’s intense eyes looking down directly my way (but not at me) while the background is intense red flashing back and forth. I could only say, ‘holy shit.’
7. The band’s awareness comes through at their shows. There are intense shows, and there are Radiohead shows. The difference being, it seems to me, that the members of Radiohead know all the little subtleties that are being passed on to its audience. Drugs are not encouraged.
8. It is possible that Thom Yorke did indeed get abducted by aliens. A rocket,(?) apparently from NASA, or maybe from aliens from outer-space, came through the sky in the middle of the show, making half the audience look up at the sky and away from the band. Some bands bring fireworks and helicopters to enhance entertainment. Radiohead shows bring rockets.
9. Unsigned? Not noticeable! The band had 10 screens set-up in the background, 2 for each member. Ticket prices were very affordable given their popularity. Venues are top-notch (I saw Pearl Jam play at a basketball forum a week later, and it was not a very impressive sound). Yes, they have dough, but this took work, and they made sure it happened.
When Radiohead released Ok Computer, it was the synthesis of an era that was revolting against cultural oppression. When they released Kid A, they were welcoming a future sonic experience that has yet to be welcomed by historical forces, but as shown by labels like Warp, Rephlex, Planet-Mu, and bigger acts like Sigur Ros, Bjork, Mum and even Outkast’s Andre 3000, it is the promise of a future that embraces modernity without relegating the soul to the bland atmosphere that surrounds our culture’s tastes. Now that they are done identifying themselves, they are ready to exploit their musical spirits and add Radiohead flavors to a diversity of traditional styles. Enjoy them and stop demanding, they are a very bright light in a very dark age.
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