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 picturesYouTube 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_1c62M0Fq4Paranoid Android - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFALQrYZ-1wLucky - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUVW71ETnskNational Anthem - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKw9hC54Od8Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead - Live in Montreal 08-06-08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ju84aF8BaI
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