radiohead sydney
by markdivision2
Seeing Radiohead live again after 8 years recently was a little like running into an old girlfriend you used to be a tad obsessed with. It’s kind of weird – they’ve put on a bit of weight (in this case, the addition of an entire extra drummer), and everything still looks to be hanging together in more or less good shape – curves where they should be, lean where it counts – but the lingering fact remains that somehow, someway, the whole deal just isn’t as hot anymore.
Tossing out a few bones in the form of three lonely tunes from the pre Kid A era didn’t leave much for fans who initially took to them as awkward indie outsiders (and not the good kind), while the overblown stage show mainly featured oddly tilted video screens and lots of blinding white light. I’m sure it was just dandy for anyone standing dumb-struck within genuflecting distance, but this was an arena, the kind big bands play, so the rest of us just got a mess of searing visual white noise. To be honest, it really could’ve been any two drummers up there. The sound was passable for a 10,000+ seater, but the dizzying highs, the terrifying lows and the positively creamy middles of the 2004 tour were never seriously under threat and that can’t be entirely the fault of the venue, concrete dump that it is: the newer songs just aren’t as exhilarating, and never could be. The heavy reliance on material from the sad slow decline that began with 2003′s Hail To The Thief mostly saw to that.
Oh sure, much like the afore-mentioned ex there was the occasional reminder of why you were so madly smitten in the first place (will you ever forget the hazy, crazy days of 1997-2001?), but you know, deep deep down in your heart, that time is long gone and you’ve both kind of moved on.
She may be a bit rough now, but try to be kind, and remember her as she once was. And know you most definitely had the best of her.
Interesting… personally I just think you had shit seats.. Every single person including myself loved the shows and there was an incredible vibe.. Thom grinned like a madman thru our show, and I had a sound engineer telling me he thought the sound was “too perfect” and either it was pre-recorded or they were the best live band in the world. Stunning night and buzzing like a fridge for days…….
I of course meant “every single person I SPOKE TO”…
And another reason why Melbourne is better than Sydney?
Of course, I can only comment on the second Sydney gig and I would appear to be in the minority…sigh.
nice piece Mark. Hope all’s well and you are enjoying FC’s start to the season!!! comedy club huh
Yes, and now with Frank Farina on the mike. As Howard Jones once sang, things can only get better – hopefully.
ouch. great critique, though.
Bit sexist .Same could of course apply with woman looking at ex boyfriends
That’s funny, I was just talking to my boyfriend. He’s a big fan, he was just telling me how much he prefers the new stuff
I’d be inclined to say if they culled all the best bits from Hail/Rainbows/Limbs they’d probably have one great Radiohead album – unfortunately, they didn’t.
Maybe it’s you, maybe your taste stayed the same, but they moved on. You should never underestimate old ‘bands’ they just keep on evolving. They can’t be constrained by your youthful predilections, which is why they get new fans – like my boyfriend for example, or maybe he’s just got more sophisticated taste than you. All the best bands follow their own needs, no one ever has ‘the best of them’ because in the end they weren’t put on earth for you.
While I make no claim to being sophistimicated, I would argue that bands exist entirely independently of their audience – if that was the case, Radiohead would never have left the garage, changed their name from On A Friday and gone seeking their large chunk of fame and fortune. Musicians, like any artist, crave recognition and while they of course have every right to evolve, fans have also just as much right to be unmoved.