Radiohead: second night at the ‘Pink Floyd palace’

Just before Radiohead take to the stage - and ‘two minutes’ warning turns into a ‘tube time’, i.e. lasting nearer to six! - Lady Fate leads me to read the following passage: “Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces everyone to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid. And, harsh though it may sound, I cannot help saying that such people deserve their doom. The sure way of knowing nothing about life is to try to make oneself useful.”

Critique of the modern social ills and brain-deficiencies? Actually, it was written over 100 years ago by Morrissey’s favourite author, Oscar Wilde, musing on the subject of ‘The Critic As Artist II’. [Yeah, an early sequel…] And yet, it encapsulates the essence of our time, which only proves Sir Winston Churchill’s postulate that understanding history you could predict the future. Radiohead are all about anticipating the future past.

Following in the proud historical footprints of experimentalists in music, from Can to Brian Eno, from Krautrock to prog-rock to post-cyber noises… In front of an industrial looking and illuminated backdrop, this aircraft-shed is transformed into a place where winter magic reigns. It appears to be ice-cold but the Gulf-like-emo stream keeps it warm, the sublime tones pumping more blood, melancholy-morphing-into-elatation while switching on Chrimbo-in-crisis lights in its wake.

But, tonight, this band recalls the glory days of Talking Heads with its intricate arrangements, its cognisance of the frequency of neural rhythms, the cerebral beat, the scope of inner electroworks. Taking it down and launching it past the atmosphere, it is minimal and epic, industrial and romantic, downtrodden and as uplifting as a mental sin.

Material from the current album ‘Hail To The Thief’ dominates the eve’s repertoire but it is nicely intermixed with some well-loved songs, including ‘The Bends’, ‘Idioteque’, ‘Paranoid Android’, ‘Just’... The greatest surprise come half-way through the set when they kicked in ‘Creep’. Very rare airing for a song that initially drew mass attention to this combo. Thom Yorke is merrily dancing around the stage with all the grace David Byrne used to display, while hardly saying anything, bar few “Thank-yous”.

The previous night he introduced ‘You And Whose Army’ with a snub at our ‘cool’ PM but tonight it was all abandoned with a sigh, “Oh, why bother…” The performance was full-on and even the more ‘difficult’, experimental-cum-noisy bits and guitar solos in the fashion of Michael Karoli (of Can) and Dave Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) rather than any axe-hero, were brilliantly complimented by visuals of split screens.

On the way back another wisdom is gleaned from the same book, that art is but a mood of artist’s mind. Mr Yorke was brimming with it.
~ ~ ~

Set-list: ‘There There’ - ‘2+2=5’ - ‘Sit Down. Stand Up’ - ‘Where I End And You Begin’ - ‘Lucky’ - ‘Backdrifts’ - ‘I Might Be Wrong’ - ‘Myxomatosis’ - ‘Creep’ - ‘Paranoid Android’ - ‘Go To Sleep’ - ‘Sail To The Moon’ - ‘No Surprises’ - ‘The Gloaming’ - ‘Just’ - ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ - ‘Idioteque’ - ‘Like Spinning Plates’ - ‘The National Anthem’ - ‘A Punch-Up At A Wedding’ - ‘How To Disappear Completely’ - ‘We Suck Young Blood’ - ‘The Bends’ - ‘Follow Me Around’ - ‘Everything In Its Right Place’