Radiohead played the first of two nights at Roseland Ballroom last night in New York City, and by most accounts the show was an overwhelming triumph of all things they do best in a live setting. The band opened with “Bloom” …
Wow, that’s the good stuff. Man I really wish I was there…
“The show opened as “The King of Limbs” does, with “Bloom,” a reverie propelled by something like refracted samba rhythm. Philip Selway, Radiohead’s regular drummer, worked busily but stoically — and so did a second drummer, Clive Deamer, hammering at a bank of electronic pads. Lending a third pair of hands on percussion was the band’s lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, momentarily hunched over a snare drum and floor tom. The bassist Colin Greenwood served as a movable anchor, shifting the emphasis bar by bar.” [NY Times]
There was a bust-out from 2003 in “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” which was last played at Red Rocks and got some serious attention by playing it relatively early in the night. There were also two drummers on stage all night with Clive Deamer joining the band as he had on their recent Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report performances. All the blogs are raving about it.
Read on for the setlist and a roundup of the coverage and some of the videos that are surfacing…
Radiohead @ Roseland Ballroom, NYC 9/28/11
Bloom, Little By Little, Staircase, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Feral*, Subterranean Homesick Alien^, All I Need, Everything In Its Right Place%, Lotus Flower, 15 Step, Myxomatosis, Codex*, The Daily Mail, Bodysnatchers, Reckoner
Encore: Give Up The Ghost, The National Anthem, Morning Mr Magpie
Encore 2: Street Spirit (Fade Out), NudeNotes:
* live debut
^ first since 2003
% featured “The One I Love” tease (R.E.M.) during the intro
Setlist above by brooklynvegan; they also have some amazing photos up from Dana (Distortion) Yavin and videos by Andrew Sullivan, one of which is embedded below.
At Ease was there and got some great setlist notes as well as the celebrity report.
Band on: 10:15pm. Celebs on the list: Cameron Diaz, Kid Rock (singing along), Chris Martin, Ed Norton
NPR was there was insanely impressed by what they saw, with this part being the moment I realized I really wish I was there myself…
Radiohead couldn’t have taken that journey with a better crowd — a crowd which, despite the house lights coming on, despite the roadies packing up the stage, despite the house music playing, pulled the band back on stage for a second encore with a passionate roar. It was an unplanned encore — a true encore. As Thom Yorke walked around the group, from Ed O’Brien to Colin Greenwood and everyone else, figuring out the next tune (it was “Nude”), there was a joy we all felt. We witnessed something genuine, stripped to its essence: a stunning band and its music. As a crowd, we had big ideas; last night, they happened.
While I know the comparison can seem too obvious at this point, that sort of crowd reaction is something you only get a few bands that I’ve seen live; Phish being the other one that comes to mind the quickest. As a fan I love having both of them playing amazingly every time they hit the stage. Let’s see how night two comes out this evening…
The Wall Street Journal weighed in and were confident that they had witnessed another classic Radiohead triumph as well…
It’s a rare treat to witness a major rock band challenge itself on stage. Radiohead, a group that’s defined by its musical ambition, curiosity and drive, did so last night. During the course of its 20-song set in New York, the band stripped apart and rebuilt songs it released only a few months ago while adding depth and power to its classics. Doing so, they made the concert a musical event and confirmed they are the most intellectually challenging and rhythmically complex unit in modern rock and pop.
Consequence of Sound was there and detailed the actual encore that took place, something of a rarity these days in the concerts I’ve been to…
After a brief three song encore, the crowd lights came on and music chimed over the PA. Nobody at Roseland was having a short-for-Radiohead 18 song set (plus one R.E.M. teaser), so the band resurfaced even as the crew began dismantling and distributing setlist souvenirs. Giving a rare unplanned encore, Radiohead sent everyone home overwhelmed with emotion via “Street Spirit (Fade Out) and “Nude”.
As for videos, well the Baeble Blog sums it up perfectly with this title: LET’S ALL WATCH THESE RADIOHEAD VIDEOS AND CRY TOGETHER
The band returns to the stage at Roseland tonight and just announced that they’ll be playing Late Night with Jimmy Fallon next week. We’ll have more coverage from the shows as it rolls in…
