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Sat 4 Mar, 2006 08:55 pm
I always kind of liked Radiohead, but then they did that Kid A weirdness, and I was like, "What the f*ck is this ****? Where the hell is my Fake Plastic Trees and my Creep? This band blows."
Fast forward to a couple years ago. My friend talks me into going to this huge all-day mega-concert thing at Giants Stadium with like twenty bands or something. Radiohead was the headliner. So I download the complete unreleased new CD Hail to the Thief about a week before the show, and I am kinda diggin' it, especially the song There There.
Fast forward to concert day. Rain...rain...more rain...about 45 degrees...after eight straight hours in the rain and cold, we basically gave up and decided there was nothing to do but drink our 151 rum-spiked cokes and just wait it out until the buses came to take us back to Manhattan.
But then, just after dark, just when it seemed like all hope was lost, the rain slowed, and then became a drizzle, and then, as we waited for Radiohead to come on, the drizzle became nothing more than a very light mist. Aaaah...finally, the rain had stopped.
Suddenly, from the dark stage, there came a sound...drums, rhythmic drums, pounding like a jungle beat, a slithering, snake of a sound that captured us all, and after our attention was focused, that beat moved us...ever so slowly at first...as we watched the still-dark stage while the intro to There There wisped out into the eery, suddenly electrified air.
You could feel the whole stadium vibe change completely as the intro stretched on. They had us. I heard my buddy say, "This could be interesting..." and that's the last thing I heard from anyone but Radiohead for the next one hundred minutes or so. I was blown away. They put on possibly the best live show I've ever seen.
And I know this may sound a little strange, but I believe...well...the rain stopping just as Radiohead began, after hours and hours of constant rain...come on, that was no accident, people. I believe that Radiohead stopped the rain. They have that power.
Radiohead is God.
So...what do you think of Radiohead?
Never heard of them, but I've been looking for god for a while now and if you see her could you please tell her I'd like to see her.
Thanks a bunch and it's nice to see you, Kicky :-D
Hey, nice to see you too, Montana. And I'm shocked that you don't know Radiohead!!! Go steal some of their music immediately, young lady!
Ok, but I'll have to wait until I get my new puter with my new cd burner next week.
How long have they been around? Is it a rock band?
Yes. But much weirder. They'be been around since around 1990 maybe? You'd like the song Creep, I think. In fact, I'm almost positive that you know that song, you just don't remember the name.
Radiohead is Jesus. Pink Floyd is God.
You're probaly right, Kicky. There are so many songs out there that I love and I don't know who the hell sings them. I'm just really forgetful that way.
You haven't heard of them Montana? This proves it. You're an alien.
But what do I know? I mean honestly, I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doin' here? I don't belong here...
:wink: hehe
CrazyDiamond
Yes, I am an alien and you're not the first to notice ;-)
I think we're all a little creepy and weird, so I wouldn't sweat that :-)
But, I'm an alien, so what would I know about human behavior.
Oh, I meant, like a Mexican immigrant...
Yeah, that too! How did you know I was a Mexican imigrant alien?
You must know me from somewhere.
How can only two people have voted in this incredibly significant poll? And that's just me and somebody else! And I hardly count!
And I still think OK Computer and The Bends are their best albums, but I haven't heard Hail to the Thief enough to really judge.
Ok, my vote has now been placed.
Not knowing any Radiohead music, I suppose that really was the best choice available to you. Being a teapot is meaningful too, though.
Yeah, I think so too, lol :-D
Nice story, Kicky.
It's been about five years since Amnesiac came out, and about four years since my Way Into Radiohead phase slowed. What I appreciate is that, because of their ecclectic history, they are nevertheless usually in rotation. If I'm feeling Brit Pop, I'll bust out Pablo Honey. If I just want good ******* songs with inventive guitar, it's time for The Bends.
OK computer got me hooked. I wore it out my senior year in college. And me and friends would, after the bars closed, go to Pleasant Ridge Chili and put songs in the weirest jukebox ever. I would usually play Tom Jones' "What's New Pussycat?" and Radiohead's "Let Down."
After graduating and before I moved to Chicago, I went to see Radiohead in Chi-town, in Grant Park. It was just a huge field of twenty-something kids who looked like they played in bands or made art. I don't know, Radiohead and their message in OK Computer--"Cattle prods and IMF (Intermonetary Fund) / I trust I can rely on, your vote)"--kind of united me with kids my age. This was before 9/11, and a lot of us were protesting the WTO, and Radiohead's music seemed to capture the political and emotional spirit of the time. I remember watching them play against the skyline, and I remember feeling young while being young. See, too often we don't realize what that is like until we are old, I think. Not that I'm old.
Not long after that I met a pretty girl who loved to make love to the Kid A album.
She was afraid of a song from Amnesiac called "Crushd Tin," in which Thom Yorke sings about meeting all of his old lovers. She was afraid of that possibility, meeting all your old lovers in the afterlife.
I moved south, we broke up, and she still has my Amnesiac CD. But I bought a new one. And I have a new girl. Will we all meet, later? Who knows.
Radiohead will always speak to that time in my life, when I was just a stoned waiter applying to grad schools, happily duped by romance.
the first song i learned on piano was Everything In Its Right Place
Oooh, that is such a cool song. I always hated it until I saw them do it live. That was one of the highlights of the show for me.
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