The line to get into Roseland wrapped around all four sides of the block, so we ducked into the Russian Vodka Room down the street to liquor up. Horseradish vodka? Approved. We wound up walking in a little before 9 without too much of a wait (read: we cut the line) and found our way up to the Mezzanine, prime real estate for a view, room to dance, no line at the bar or bathroom. Perfect.
Four Tet came on right at 9 and played a pretty mellow set, which is their thing I guess. With the volume set pretty low and the anticipation for Radiohead, it was really more like chilled out background music, but good beats nonetheless. I chatted with the guy next to me for a bit during set change. He was an old Deadhead and his 16-year-old son was “down in the pit” so he was really there as an escort…but Radiohead would blow his mind the entire night.
The set leaned heavily toward newer material, especially The King of Limbs and In Rainbows, which was to be expected. They also played the yet-to-be-released “Staircases” which they debuted on Saturday Night Live last weekend (great song) and played “Feral” and “Codex” for the first time in a live setting. Sadly, the sound was a little muddled and not loud enough early in the show, but it improved throughout the night. After opening with “Bloom” they launched into a rollicking “Little By Little” which was one of the many highlights of the night and was still stuck in my head this morning. It’s a song that never stood out to me until hearing it performed live. The band was riled up and letting loose. They followed it up with a soulful “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”, another song that takes on a whole new life when heard live. Two songs later was “Subterranean Homesick Alien” from OK Computer, a track they haven’t performed live since ’03. The energy then slowly built over the next several songs with Thom Yorke bouncing from guitar, to piano, to synth, back to piano, back to guitar and then finally exploding into “Myxomatosis” from Hail to the Thief, one of my all time favorites. It was raucous with the whole band raging on stage. Wild dancing ensued, myself and Thom included.
Other highlights of the night included “All I Need”, “15 Steps”, “Daily Mail”, “Bodysnatchers”, “Morning Mr Magpie” and “Everything in its Right Place” which they opened with a few lines from “The One I Love” as a nice tribute to the recently retired R.E.M. As they did on both SNL and The Colbert Report, they used two drummers all night, though to be honest, I couldn’t really tell a difference. The new drummer in question is Clive Deamer, who plays with Portishead and Robert Plant.
After the first encore, it seemed they couldn’t quite decide if the show was over or not. Some of the house lights came on, but not all, and some house music started to play. Some people started to leave, but most stayed put and kept cheering, hoping for a second encore. After about 5 minutes, the band reappeared to a huge roar and closed with “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” from The Bends and “Nude.” It was a beautiful ending to an incredible show. Anyone going tonight should be very excited. Here’s to hoping for a full tour.
Radiohead: Roseland Ballroom, 9/28/11
Bloom
Little By Little
Staircase
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Feral
Subterranean Homesick Alien
All I Need
Everything In Its Right Place (with “The One I Love” intro)
Lotus Flower
15 Step
Myxomatosis
Codex
The Daily Mail
Bodysnatchers
Reckoner
Encore:
Give Up The Ghost
The National Anthem
Morning Mr Magpie
Encore 2:
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Nude