The anticipation for the Radiohead headlining set at today’s Outside Lands festival was clearly in the air and on the minds of everyone in the crowd today, and I think that’s why I felt the entire crowd freak out with me when the first or two major sound outages occurred early in the set. The second one occurred a few songs later. And it was insanely strange because it (seemingly) wasn’t a power outage because the lights stayed on the band kept playing. But there was absolutely zero sound coming from the PA, and we’re not talking about just one or two seconds. We’re talking about what felt like an eternity, although I’m sure neither one lasted more than a minute. Wait, think about that. That’s insane.
In all my years as a concertgoer, I’ve never seen that happen.
The band seemingly didn’t notice at the time and continued the songs but Thom Yorke made mention of the problems on each occasion. The band truly delivered during their set despite the problems — not that anyone expected that they wouldn’t — which started with “15 Step,” and ended with “Everything In Its Right Place,” a truly captivating performance front to back. At times I found so amazed at how quiet the crowd became; the band seriously had everyone just awestruck and it was truly a sight to behold. This band might be the best band in the world right now and I don’t think we’re going to see a close second anytime soon, especially in the live arena. Well okay, maybe My Morning Jacket now and Phish if they come back strong in the future.
Still, Radiohead was just untouchable tonight (again, even with the sound problems). So untouchable, that the tour buses for the band took off (with police escort) before the final notes of the encore finale were faded out by the soundman. A police escort would have been nice out of there. I guess I should just be thankful I found a cab.
