My friend Joe and I wrote for a musical website called Ministry of Control a while back. The site no longer exists, but this review does, courtesy of archive.org:
Before his psychic implosion in 1994, Kurt Cobain expressed an interest in working with R.E.M. He wanted to move away from the same old verse-chorus-verse, pedals go here, soft-loud loop he felt he'd locked himself in. He never gave himself the chance.
Radiohead are proof that reincarnation does exist, if only in rock and roll.
Thom Yorke, the brothers Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Phil Selway have carved out an unlikely niche for themselves on the charts, beset on all sides by the Limp Bizkits and Destiny's Children of the world. They have cultivated a devoted following, one that has followed them into the murky depths of their experimentation, but one whose patience has recently seemed tested. On Monday, June 18, Radiohead showed a sell-out crowd of Houston faithful exactly how that patience would be rewarded.
Radiohead rocked out.
When Radiohead announced plans to tour for their new album Amnesiac, many thought the tour would be fey, timid, a piano recital with the occasional fuzz pedal. That they'd be Kid A and Amnesiac live, with a smattering of obscure b-sides and covers to keep the heads a'scratching. Kid A and Amnesiac are terrific albums, but they're not for everyone, and the songs on these albums do not sound like they would lend themselves to bombastic arena rock. This was a make-or-break night for Radiohead. If they could impress these stoic Texans, then well, the rest of the country would be putty in their hands.
The rest of the country will be putty in their hands.
The Beta Band were scheduled to open up for Radiohead, but apparently the prospect of tens of thousands of screaming Texans was too much for them. The crowd was treated instead to the scratch stylings of DJ Andrea Parker, who managed to mix Depeche Mode with Star Wars dialogue with some of the spookiest beats this side of a Recoil album. It was all very lovely, but suffered from the curse of hearing dance music in a venue not exactly suited for dancing. Heads were bobbed politely, and the crowd patiently waited for their heroes.
Finally, the sun set, and the Pavilion cooled down nicely. What better way to start the show proper than with "The National Anthem"? Radiohead forewent spangled banners for their own decidedly more fuzzed up version, as heard on Kid A. Well, not quite as heard on Kid A. From the first note, Radiohead made clear that this was a ROCK concert. This was Radiohead headling a tour across the US, a world many of their brethren had attempted unsuccessfully to conquer, and damn if these boys were going to waste the opportunity. About 30 seconds in, I wondered, "Where are the horns?" About 2 seconds after that I realized the guitars were so thick there wouldn't have even been room for the horns. "National Anthem" was a rousing pump your fist song, a perfect opener.
After "National Anthem" they slowed down a bit with "Morning Bell," easing up on the vocal distortion and letting the guitars chime through. Throughout the show, Radiohead infused heart and emotion into the Kid A / Amnesiac songs. While on the albums they may have felt cold and passionless, here they were infused with as much depth of feeling as anything off of The Bends. "Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box" swung and swayed like a paranoid slice of Studio 54. "Idioteque" was transformed from an inhuman effects show into an all-too-human expression of rage and alienation. "Women and children first, I laugh until my head comes off," sang Yorke, and at once the connection in the lyrics was made clear. These songs were given not a new life when played live, but their first life. On this stage, they were born from blueprints into souls.
"How To Disappear Completely" actually put the crowd inside the song, bathing them in a cool aquatic glow. The combination of Caligarian sound effects and soft Fleetwood Mac guitars made it an incredibly eerie moment , and at the same time undeniably affectionate. "Everything In Its Right Place" featured Jonny Greenwood playing an assortment of effects pedals in lieu of a guitar, and somehow making what felt like the "marimba" setting off an old Casio keyboard sound completely appropriate in an arena rock setting. At one point, Thom Yorke hung the mike over the crowd and actually sampled the crowd roar into the song, making them literally part of the music.
This was an audience's concert. Radiohead stormed the bleachers with light and sound during "My Iron Lung," and "Exit Music (From A Film)" and "Karma Police" were straight-up audience singalongs, the latter complete with a barroom style piano. "Paranoid Android" simply exploded into the most incendiary six minutes of pure RAWK you will hear this year. As their set seemed to melt down around them, Radiohead imbued "Android" with the majesty suggested by it's musical ancestor, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Freddie Mercury would have been damn proud.
Radiohead did two encores and played "Talk Show Host" from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, which Thom Yorke dedicated to R.E.M. before Jonny Greenwood's guitar did it's best impression of Donald Duck on meth (this was a cool thing, by the way). They saved "The Bends" for last. It was a perfect ending. Jonny Greenwood exploded the audience with the famous pop riff that puts "The Bends" on any Radiohead fan's top ten list, and one was left feeling sorry for the two people in the crowd who weren't having an epileptic fit. It was "How You End a Concert 101," and it was taught well.
If this show is indicative of the tour, Radiohead will top the lists this year for best tour. True, they've had their share of fair-weather fans who've turned on them in the wake of their recent Eno-esque excursions, but a live album from this show would not only answer the call for Radiohead to return to their roots, but would indeed be the best album they've ever done. You have no idea how these songs sound live. They're simply amazing, and so is this band.
SET LIST for RADIOHEAD, 6/18/01, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
"National Anthem"
"Morning Bell"
"Lucky"
"My Iron Lung"
"Knives Out"
"Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box"
"Bones"
"Exit Music (For A Film)"
"No Surprises"
"Dollars And Cents"
"Karma Police"
"I Might Be Wrong"
"Pyramid Song"
"Paranoid Android"
"Idioteque"
"Everything In Its Right Place"
FIRST ENCORE
"You And Whose Army"
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)"
"Climbing Up The Walls"
"How To Disappear Completely"
SECOND ENCORE
"Talk Show Host"
"The Bends"
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