Kickstart My Heart Will Go On

After work I walked over to the pub, a path that takes me along Front Street in Toronto. Along the way I saw an interesting cross-section as people were heading to the two big shows in town: Celine Dion at the Air Canada Centre, and Motley Crue heading a bill at the Molson Amphitheatre.

Here's the kicker: only one of those shows is going to be serving alcohol to patrons. And it's Celine Dion.

Due to a liquor infraction last year, the Molson Amphitheatre's liquor license is suspended for tonight's Motley Crue concert. The last time something like this happened to a big show was at the Air Canada Centre for a Nine Inch Nails/Queens of the Stone Age show back in 2005.

The liquor store near the ACC looked like they sold out of pocket size bottles of booze that night.

For those service charges, the least you could do is remember my name

Something to ponder - everytime I put my ATM debit card in and type my pin code, the first thing i enter is what language I want. How come my account doesn't remember what i pick EVERY time and default to that language?

Made 2 Good Movies and 1 Bad Movie

Chris Sims calls this "the single greatest origin recap in the history of comics", in 6 little words:

That would have eliminated an hour out of that first Spider-Man movie.

via Caleb at Everyday is Like Wednesday

Radiohead in Montreal: Everything In Its Right Place

I've been trying to see Radiohead for 13 years, but every time something would come up to interfere, but circumstances always stopped me from being able to go. This time I made it happen, and had all the elements to make my first Radiohead concert a memorable experience. The beautiful outdoor setting of Parc Jean Drapeau; a rain storm that let up before Radiohead took the stage; I got to meet up with one of my oldest friends to see the show; they played a nice long show with 25 songs over 2 hours including the entirety of In Rainbows; fireworks exploded in the sky and we ended up spending most of the night watching the show with Montreal band The Arcade Fire. That's a good night in my book.



A few factors influenced me to see the show in Montreal rather than Toronto, first of which was the fact the Toronto show soldout in a few minutes and now scalpers were getting $200 for lawns. The Montreal show still had tickets, so that plus a bus ticket and I was ahead of the deal.

After 8 hours on the bus, I arrived in Montreal and met up with Nicole, her hubby Trevor, and friends. The show was outdoors at Parc Jean Drapeau, so of course it rained for hours before the show. Being seasoned pros, we brought raingear. Being more seasoned then I am, Nicole brought her custom made Radiohead poncho and her rubber boots, a very popular fashion accessory that day.

The rain had been pouring as we came out of the subway. As we made out way in, the rain slowed. As we waited for Radiohead to take the stage, the rain slowed to a light drizzle, and a double rainbow could be seen. It seemed we were truly In Rainbows.

As the sun went down, Radiohead takes the stage and everything from start to finish was a favourite - great sound out there in the field and mud, and a fantastic light show. To the left and right of the stage were screens showing feeds from cameras all over the stage.

Radiohead are: (left to right) Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronics), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, other instruments), Phil Selway (drums, percussion).

Nicole and I got separated looking for a good spot to view the show. She calls me on the cell to say she had a good spot farther back. A paradox, I know, but when I got there, there's Nicole and friends, standing next to Montreal's own The Arcade Fire, one of our favourite bands. They were keeping a low profile and were watching the show with the rest of us. We decided not to hassle them by fawning over them, praising how great their music is and how cool it is that musicians like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, U2, Radiohead and Coldplay are fans of theirs. It’s the Canadian in me, I don’t hassle celebrities if they’re not drawing attention to themselves (drunkenly accosting Richard E Grant on Queen Street aside: "Ohmygod you're Withnail!").

I love every song on In Rainbows, and I whooped every time they dove into their back catalogue, playing a few unexpected tunes like "My Iron Lung" from The Bends. "My Iron Lung" is their answer to the over-exposure they experienced from "Creep", their first hit. It became an anchor around their necks. You’d get a bit sick of everyone demanding you “play the hit”, feeling defined by just the one song. According to Nicole they don't dip into their first album Pablo Honey much anymore. Shame, as I have a lot of affection for tunes like "Stop Whispering" and "You".

Some point around the 9th song of the set, a fireworks display started going off on the other side of the park (some international competion we think), as in "not part of the show". I remember at one point Thom said something along the lines of "They spent so much money on fireworks, the least they could do is put them at the fucking end darlings... and in time."


So at the start of the encore Colin and Thom played "Faust Arp" from In Rainbows. The fireworks were still going off every few minutes. This time they went off and Thom missed some lyrics while having what may have been a giggle fit. Nicole has the video up here.

I have to order one of their Tour t-shirts. There were a number of black t-shirts with faded multi-coloured lettering with different sayings. Two stand-outs were:

'/_ YOU'LL GO TO HELL /FOR WHAT YOUR DIRTY_MIND I/S THINKING'

and

'YOU/USED TO _BE A_LRIGHT WHAT /HA_PPENED ?'

They played classics like "Paranoid Android", "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Lucky", they played "National Anthem". By the time they got to "Karma Police", I was in heaven.

One of my favourite images from the screen, near the end of the concert a black and white Thom Yorke sings to us from the night.

Radiohead closed the show with "Everything In Its Right Place". And at the end of the night, it was, as we wandered off with smiles on our faces and humming songs all the way.

Links:
All videos and photos are under a creative commons license… attribution, no derivitives, noncommercial. Any other uses, drop me a line and we'll talk. Thanks!

Flickr Photoset of my Radiohead in Montreal pictures

YouTube links for some videos I took, plus the one Nicole got:

Faust Arp - Thom gets the giggles - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08 (Nicole's):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_1c62M0Fq4

Paranoid Android - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFALQrYZ-1w

Lucky - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUVW71ETnsk

National Anthem - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKw9hC54Od8

Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ju84aF8BaI

Amnesiac

I'm home and sleepy after the Radiohead show - such a fantastic, funny night. I go to the show, wondering if Radiohead's friends, Montreal's own The Arcade Fire would make an appearance, and they did of a sort. Nicole, hubby, Allie and I were standing amongst Win Butler and most of the band all night, out in the middle of the crowd. They looked like they were there to enjoy the show and keep a low profile, so we didn't compare notes with them or anything. It's the Canadian in me, we don't tend to harass folks. Add in some ill-timed fireworks that caused Thom to have a bit of a giggle fit mid-tune and it was an amusing night.

I'll do a full write-up later, but for now care of ateaseweb here's the set list. It was so good, with some gems from each album (except for Pablo Honey - Nicole mentioned they don't dip into that first disc too much anymore) provoking many "Is that... it is! Whoo hoo!" moments.

http://www.ateaseweb.com/2008/08/06/radiohead-live-in-montreal-live-report/

Setlist:
01. 15 Step
02. There There (Thom “Sorry about the rain it follows us around”)
03. Morning Bell
04. All I Need
05. My Iron Lung
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. The National Anthem (Fireworks going off at nearby festival)
10. Fake Plastic Trees
11. Reckoner
12. Like Spinning Plates
13. Jigsaw (Thom :If you’re feeling cold you can always grab someone next to you. Then Phil went to hug Colin)
14. Lucky
15. Optimistic
16. Idioteque
17. Bodysnatchers

Encore 1
18. Faust Arp
19. Videotape (Thom: “”There’s always money for fireworks, the least they could do is put them at the fucking end”)
20. Paranoid Android
21. Bangers and Mash
22. Karma Police

Encore 2
23. House of Cards
24. You And Whose Army?
25. Everything In Its Right Place

Kid A

As the bus passes the area where i was born, the beautifully
melancholy Tom Waits song "House Where Nobody Lives" plays. Ever feel
like you had a soundtrack?
(Note: maybe not. Next song was Summer of 69. That's pretty jarring.)

In Rainbows

We're pulling into Montreal as Radiohead's Reckoner comes on my
headphones. Just a few hour til the show. I'm a long time Radiohead
fan, but this is my first concert. Something always came up. Hope this
much effort makes up for all the other times.

O.K. Commuter

Bus makes a pit stop in Kingston. Timbits and iced tea to get me through the other half. Remembered that on any road trip, never pass a chance to stretch the legs. Last 2 songs on ipod are Nada Surf - Hi Speed Soul, Black Flag - Rise Above

Radiohead in Montreal

Why am i going to see Radiohead in Montreal? Toronto sold out quick,
and with scalpers charging $200 for lawns, a bus ticket and my show
ticket still keep me ahead of the deal. Bonus is a meet up with my
good friend Nikita. More later- sent from phone.