There's no mistaking Radiohead's greatness
Wet. Aching. Exhausted.
Only now, sitting in a puddle of my own leaky self can I catch my breath and appreciate what I was a part of.
On August 6, at the glorious Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal Quebec, 35,000 fans (and this humble writer) battled sludge and rain to see arguably the most important band today during their critically acclaimed In Rainbows tour.
They did not let me down.
After waiting in line for 10 hours at the rainy entrance gates armed only with granola bars and garbage-bag-poncho's, I was able to secure a front row slot to the hottest ticket in the country. Like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings, swarms of fans rushed the stage upon admittance with helpless security admirably trying to maintain order.
When the opening act Grizzly Bear finally took the stage, it was clear that the crowd was focused on seeing just one band that evening. Playing a shortened set, the New York rockers humbly went through the motions clearly overwhelmed by the shear size of the crowd.
As if the heavens answered our prayers the sky cleared, coincidentally (or not) revealing an enormous rainbow that surely reminded everyone in attendance what time it was.
Though the wait was seemingly endless, the moment when the electronic blips and bleeps of “15 Step” thundered across the earth nullifing any battle wounds I had endured. Radiohead was here.
“We're sorry about the rain. It follows us around,” front man Thom Yorke murmured, to the delight of the legions of mud-soaked fans.
Tearing through song after song, the band was razor sharp. Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist and musician extraordinaire, played with such a passion it was like he wrote the material yesterday. Despite the hundreds of bootlegged video's I'd seen leading up to the show, I was sure that this was the pinnacle of them all — and I'm only talking about the music. Upon further research, I found out that Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich had been touring with the band mixing the live sound, and it really showed. Amazing.
What I didn't expect was the insane light show surrounding the In Rainbows tour. Radiohead has fully embraced the live performance as an art form, and seeing the combinations of video and colour coinciding with the dynamics of the music was nothing short of mesmerizing.
In another case of happy accidents, halfway through their set an extravagant fireworks display could be seen, coincidentally coming from the close of another festival across the river. The band was noticeably taken aback, with Yorke even giggling his way through the first encore of “Faust Arp,” to the cheering of the crowd.
Perhaps the most emotional part of the evening came at the end of “Karma Police” when the entire crowd sang along (in key) to the closing lyrics. Yorke was so touched that while the rest of his band-mates left the stage, he turned around and grabbed his acoustic and played the chords again, this time with the crowd taking over singing duties; “For a minute there, I lost myself.”
Indeed.
It was these human reactions not often seen with such enormous bands that really set this gig apart from anything I'd ever seen. Honest, raw, soulful - an absolute inspiration for me to push my creative boundaries to whatever future we have in store.
Turns out, Radiohead is all I need.
Only now, sitting in a puddle of my own leaky self can I catch my breath and appreciate what I was a part of.
On August 6, at the glorious Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal Quebec, 35,000 fans (and this humble writer) battled sludge and rain to see arguably the most important band today during their critically acclaimed In Rainbows tour.
They did not let me down.
After waiting in line for 10 hours at the rainy entrance gates armed only with granola bars and garbage-bag-poncho's, I was able to secure a front row slot to the hottest ticket in the country. Like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings, swarms of fans rushed the stage upon admittance with helpless security admirably trying to maintain order.
When the opening act Grizzly Bear finally took the stage, it was clear that the crowd was focused on seeing just one band that evening. Playing a shortened set, the New York rockers humbly went through the motions clearly overwhelmed by the shear size of the crowd.
As if the heavens answered our prayers the sky cleared, coincidentally (or not) revealing an enormous rainbow that surely reminded everyone in attendance what time it was.
Though the wait was seemingly endless, the moment when the electronic blips and bleeps of “15 Step” thundered across the earth nullifing any battle wounds I had endured. Radiohead was here.
“We're sorry about the rain. It follows us around,” front man Thom Yorke murmured, to the delight of the legions of mud-soaked fans.
Tearing through song after song, the band was razor sharp. Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist and musician extraordinaire, played with such a passion it was like he wrote the material yesterday. Despite the hundreds of bootlegged video's I'd seen leading up to the show, I was sure that this was the pinnacle of them all — and I'm only talking about the music. Upon further research, I found out that Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich had been touring with the band mixing the live sound, and it really showed. Amazing.
What I didn't expect was the insane light show surrounding the In Rainbows tour. Radiohead has fully embraced the live performance as an art form, and seeing the combinations of video and colour coinciding with the dynamics of the music was nothing short of mesmerizing.
In another case of happy accidents, halfway through their set an extravagant fireworks display could be seen, coincidentally coming from the close of another festival across the river. The band was noticeably taken aback, with Yorke even giggling his way through the first encore of “Faust Arp,” to the cheering of the crowd.
Perhaps the most emotional part of the evening came at the end of “Karma Police” when the entire crowd sang along (in key) to the closing lyrics. Yorke was so touched that while the rest of his band-mates left the stage, he turned around and grabbed his acoustic and played the chords again, this time with the crowd taking over singing duties; “For a minute there, I lost myself.”
Indeed.
It was these human reactions not often seen with such enormous bands that really set this gig apart from anything I'd ever seen. Honest, raw, soulful - an absolute inspiration for me to push my creative boundaries to whatever future we have in store.
Turns out, Radiohead is all I need.
