After being somewhat underwhelmed by Radiohead from outside Lollapalooza earlier this month, I was completely blown away last night at the Hollywood Bowl. I had looked forward to seeing Radiohead at the Bowl all year as it is my favorite venue — the open [dry] air element lends itself to pristine sound and with the elaborate light/visual show put on by Radiohead’s crew, sitting in the Bowl felt not unlike floating in outer space. Jonny Greenwood is one of the greatest guitarists of our time. I’m saying this now, because, it’s not just his tone and creativity, but his ability to rip away in multiple directions and also disappear into the atmosphere of a song or play straight acoustic. Kind of like Jimmy Page. And while I like to make fun of Thom Yorke for mumbling and moaning incessantly, he was very effective and very sharp utilizing his voice as a melodic instrument. And the guy is no hack at guitar/piano either.
I snuck some short video clips with my crappy digital [still] — it’s worth sharing the handful of 15-second clips combined in the video below to give you an idea of the light show. The sound is horrible on the camera, although it was pristine at the show… and yes, the video may be nauseating, but, hey, you’ve been warned. Further below, the setlist and a few more videos from the end of the show of 1-2 minutes each.
Continue reading “Radiohead at Hollywood Bowl — Best Live Band Today”
Late Thursday Radiohead announced that it would perform a charity show benefiting the survivors of the devastating January 12th earthquake in Haiti. The tickets were made available via a Ticketmaster auction which ended with a final minimum bid of $475 (meaning many secured their tickets for $450). Some went above and beyond as the proceeds were going 100% to Haiti via Oxfam America and the high bid was $2,000 per ticket (for either 2 or 4 tickets), according to the band.
