It's official.
Radiohead have joined Bruce Springsteen on that short, elite list of artists I will travel thousands of miles to see if they don't happen to be playing my hometown of Seattle.
Radiohead earned their place on that list this past weekend when I made the trip to Berkeley, California, to catch them on the second night of a sold out two-night stand at the Greek Theatre.
Before we get to the concert, a couple of quick things about both the venue and the city of Berkeley itself.
The Greek Theatre is simply a great place to see a show. It was designed as sort of a miniature Roman Coliseum, perfectly rounded like a bowl so that no matter where you are you have an excellent sight line. The sound is also magnificent, making for an all around great concert experience under a gorgeous moonlit (and foggy!) summer night.
Secondly, props have to be given to the Bay Area's phenomenal transit system, known to the locals as "BART." If you are anything like me, and have more than a few years experience under your belt traveling to foreign cities to see concerts, you already know that getting around can be both challenging and expensive.
Not so in the Bay.
Getting around pretty much anywhere from the Oakland Airport to the hotel in Berkeley to the venue on the UC Berkeley campus was never more than a two dollar train ride away. If only every city (including my own here in Seattle) had their transit system down to the science that the Bay Area has.
Back to Radiohead.
If you've followed this band at all over the years, you already know they never play the same exact setlist twice. They have never mixed things up quite the way they are doing on this very short American tour this summer. On back-to-back nights, you might get five of the same songs played at best. Plus, they are trying out a ton of new material.
Lead vocalist Thom Yorke has his own solo album, The Eraser, coming out in just a few weeks. The songs Radiohead are playing are not from that project. Rather, they are from a collective band effort expected to be released sometime next year.
When I read the setlist online for the first show of the two-night Berkeley stand, I was actually disappointed to see several of my favorite songs had already been played.
Unlike some Radiohead fans, I actually prefer the more ambient textures of albums like Kid A and Amnesiac over the guitar-driven prog rock of OK Computer. When I read Friday’s setlist included songs like "Morning Bell" and "Pyramid Song," my heart actually sank a little, because I knew it wasn't likely they would be repeated at the Saturday show I was flying a few thousand miles to see, and I was right.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Thank you Diana Hartman for publishing this (and getting even one of my cellphone taken pictures up).
I gotta go to bed now though. Its been a long weekend.
Thanx!
-Glen
2 - Glen Boyd
Oh shit, I guess not even one of em' are up now. LOL....so be it. My buddy Matt took em' with his cellphone and they are pretty damn blurry.
The concert was pretty damned awesome though. Gopefully my review speaks for itself (and I think I wanna move to Berkeley).
-Glen
3 - Bryan McKay
I managed to catch a show a couple years ago and was blown away. I've always been a fan and I'd heard the live experience was memorable, but I truly wasn't prepared. I also had the nice bonus of hearing "Creep" played in the US for the first time in seven-odd years. Granted, they continued playing it throughout the tour, but it's always nice to be the first, eh?
4 - Glen Boyd
Bryan,
"Creep" Huh? Nice...
I don't think they've played "Creep" once this go-round but I could be wrong. But you are absolutely right. Nothing can prepare you for the experience of seeing Radiohead live.
Thanx for the comment.
-Glen
5 - the turtle
it's not the ucla campus. That's in LA
it's UC Berekely
but good review
i'm sorry I missed it
6 - Glen Boyd
I've already requested an editor to correct this so it should get changed here fairly soon. So already on it Mr. Turtle...but thanks for the catch anyway.
-Glen
7 - Treanne
that sounds like an amazing show. i collect radiohead shows and hopefully someone recorded this one cuz thats one of the best setlists ive seen since bonaroo (they did knives out there). hopefully ill see thom, jonny, and the radioboys one day. thanks for the review.
~treanne~
8 - Glen Boyd
Treanne,
If you get your hands on a copy of that show, burn one for me okay? Thanx for the comment.
-Glen
9 - Stan The Man
Your review not withstanding (and it is very good), I still think Radiohead suck. They represent all that ruined rock music in the nineties. A bunch of pretentious Brits trying to bring "art" into the mix of rock and roll. Bill Haley woulda taken Thom York out to the woodshed like the arthouse tart he is. I am Stan The Man.
10 - Glen Boyd
I'm sorry you feel that way Mr. Stan. Thanks for commenting anyway.
-Glen
11 - Glen Boyd
The radiohead boards over at ateaseweb are currently buzzing about this show being one of the all-time best. Check it out at ateaseweb.com
-Glen