Review: Radiohead at the Greek Theater

The last time Radiohead performed in Los Angeles, it was
September 2003 and this fall’s seniors were wide-eyed
freshmen just finishing their first Welcome Week.

A lot has changed since then: Many students who started out
pre-med have moved up to North Campus, the Daily Bruin’s dB
Magazine is all but forgotten, and Radiohead, one of the
world’s most acclaimed and successful bands, doesn’t
have a record deal.

But as the group’s June 28 concert at the Greek Theater
proved, some things will always stay the same. Radiohead is not
only still a phenomenal live act, but as a series of new songs
revealed, rock music’s reigning Most Important Band.

Deerhoof, a frenetic indie rock trio, opened the show. Singer
Satomi wore a calico dress and danced around stage maniacally when
she wasn’t playing bass or singing a mix of Japanese and
English over thundering instruments. With the theater filling up
quickly during the hour before Radiohead was to take stage,
Deerhoof’s brand of noise-pop probably won it a fan or two,
though the biggest reaction it received was when its members
thanked the headlining act.

Radiohead took the stage a few minutes after 9 p.m., starting
off its lengthy 24-song set with a raucous version of “You
And Whose Army.” Throughout the night, the band was loud and
gritty, tearing into its instruments with a fury reminiscent of its
arena rock beginnings.

Though the band played over half of the electronic-oriented
“Kid A” album, the set was mostly analog, with the band
relying on more traditional rock fixtures ““ bass, drums,
guitar, piano ““ for songs such as “Morning Bell”
and “Dollars and Cents.”

Radiohead played several tracks from each of its six albums,
with the notable exception of anything from “Pablo
Honey.” Singer/guitarist Thom Yorke even admonished
enthusiastic fans chanting for the seminal hit “Creep”
by saying, “You’re so last week.”

The band played a slew of new songs ““ eight in all ““
which more than made up for any absences on the set list.

The tracks included older, unreleased material such as
“Nude” and a rare, shortened appearance of
“Follow Me Around” to the poppy “Down is the New
Up” and the piano-driven ballad “Videotape.”
“Bangers And Mash,” featuring Yorke as a second
drummer, is the closest thing to punk rock the band has ever done;
on the other end, encore song “House of Cards” was
reminiscent of U2’s “One,” thanks to
Yorke’s soaring melodies.

From start to finish, the fresh tunes displayed a staggering
breadth of musicality without sounding as splintered and
idiosyncratic as previous album, “Hail To The Thief,”
turned out to be.

That the new songs stood up to prior achievements such as
“How To Disappear Completely” (a highlight of the two
encores) and “Street Spirit” bodes well for the
band’s next album, whenever it may be released. Until then,
we’re left with plentiful online bootlegs and the reassurance
that Radiohead is still the most intriguing, forward-thinking band
in the world. Not that there was ever any doubt.

““ David Greenwald

E-mail Greenwald at [email protected].