Radiohead rocks Lakewood Amphitheater
By Matt Braddick
Imagine 19,000 people all clustered together on the highway, moving together as if trying to escape something. Car upon car lined the side of I-85 near exit 243, almost like everyone was trying to get out of town, hoping to escape the oncoming apocalypse just a few miles behind them. Traffic inches along slowly; it takes close to an hour for our car to travel just a short couple of miles. Which meant that in the meantime plenty of people, myself included, found it necessary to jump out of the car then hike up steep hills in the woods in search of a little private, natural, temporary bathroom.
Going through all that frustration, plus the horrendously expensive parking, then the long walk to the main building where everyone was headed. Was it all worth this? What could possibly draw all these people out to Lakewood Park on a Thursday evening that promised nothing but rain?
Well, they had all come not to escape that armageddon you might have thought was taking place somewhere else. They had instead come to witness and participate in it. Radiohead, Britain’s titans of art-rock, had come to town, and a celebration was in order.
Taking the stage right at 9 p.m., the band started off their rousing two and a half hour set that roared and soared to the most unbelievable heights. The introductory song was “All I Need,” a cut from their newest album that I thought an appropriate starter as I thought to myself ‘wow, this is the best, this is all I need in life.’ The thick, rich, atmospheric Radiohead sound was as alive as ever. All five men strummed, drummed, beat and bled out their songs to a rabid audience, fervently desperate for the trademark Radiohead sound.
With this show, the set list seemed to focus on this newest record. Which in and of itself wouldn’t be such a bad thing — “In Rainbows” is an excellent, if concentrated effort. But for new fans experiencing the band for the first time, their choice of songs was not as representative of the band’s career as a whole, and I thought not as appreciable. This choice was just as frustrating for me as a die-hard fan; notable classics like “No Surprises,” “Street Spirit” and “Fake Plastic Trees” sadly didn’t make the cut that night.
However, a few classics did worm their way into the set. Atlanta was their third stop so far on this U.S. tour, and spoiling myself on the set lists of the previous shows in West Palm Beach and Tampa, I had become dismayed when their iconic hit, “Paranoid Android,” was absent from the Florida shows. Yet we fortunate Atlanta attendees were granted a performance of the song, and I couldn’t have been happier. Fan favorite “Idioteque” worked its way into the performance that night too, and the crowd showed their approval, unashamedly cheering and shouting as Thom Yorke, lead singer of the band, let loose with his trademark, “Napoleon Dynamite”-esque, style of dancing through the driving electronic beats that pulsed into the Atlanta night air like a beacon, calling to the audience and hypnotizing them into states of euphoria.
Especially encouraging was seeing the band interact and talk to the audience so frequently. On more than one occasion, items like shirts and shoes sailed onto the stage from the hands of rabid fans hoping for attention, an autograph, the immortalization of their property as a blessing from these rock-gods, or some combination of all these. But the members of the band took it all in stride and had lots of fun with it, seeming to enjoy being in America, the land of the rambunctious fan.
It’s terribly difficult to talk objectively about a band I admire and respect so much. So when I look back on the show, it’s difficult to pinpoint particular aspects to the concert that may have been lacking. But this I can tell you: amongst the hundreds of thousands of people who walked beside me as we stumbled away from the concert hall, not a frowning face was to be found. Everyone seemed contented and fulfilled, knowing they had just sat through an evening of highquality entertainment from a band that works hard not to disappoint.
So while it may be an expensive and timeconsuming event to undertake, at some point in your life if you have a friend who happens to have an extra ticket to see Radiohead and invites you along, you should go. With Radiohead, I believe they know what people pay to get in, and they want to make sure the audience gets every penny’s worth. This time, despite a flawed set list and drizzling rain, they came through again. Sixteen years and counting, long live Radiohead.
