{"id":10255,"date":"2012-04-14T08:43:20","date_gmt":"2012-04-14T16:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=10255"},"modified":"2012-04-14T08:43:20","modified_gmt":"2012-04-14T16:43:20","slug":"review-photos-and-video-radiohead-at-the-santa-barbara-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2012-04\/review-photos-and-video-radiohead-at-the-santa-barbara-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Review, Photos and Video: Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When it was announced (as we had predicted<\/a>) that Radiohead<\/strong>, our favorite live band for the last 15 years (due respect to Arcade Fire, Elbow, The National, Bon Iver<\/strong> and U2<\/strong>), would grace the hallowed Santa Barbara Bowl<\/strong> on their 2012 tour, the show quickly became the most sought after show in Santa Barbara Bowl history.\u00a0 Somehow those present Thursday managed to buy, beg, borrow or steal a Golden Ticket to the Bowl to see Radiohead.\u00a0\u00a0 As we walked into the Bowl, the first folks we met had just flown in from Hong Kong the prior day just for the show.\u00a0 The second couple we met were newlyweds from Mexico City who had flown in to Santa Barbara from Japan as part of their honeymoon.\u00a0 And so it went.\u00a0 Radiohead are that kind of band, and the Santa Barbara Bowl is that kind of venue, and the two are a match made in heaven.\u00a0 On Thursday night Radiohead continued its streak of commanding and unparalleled performances at the Bowl.<\/p>\n

At 6:30 sharp, Oklahoma’s Other Lives <\/strong>opened with a surprisingly grand set that showed they are learning well from their headlining brethren.\u00a0 Since their last time through town<\/a> (last July at Soho<\/strong> opening for The Rosebuds<\/strong>–how about that for career trajectory?), Other Lives have garnered critical praise and fans.\u00a0 What couldn’t helped being noticed this night was that the band has morphed from its fine chamber-rock sound at Soho into a larger arena-filling sound that at times sounded uncannily like Radiohead themselves.\u00a0 Wily folks those Other Lives.<\/p>\n

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We hadn’t missed any of Radiohead’s legendary shows at the SB Bowl, and were ecstatic to attend again on Thursday.\u00a0 While we had seen the band in the ’90s in San Francisco at Justin Herman Plaza<\/strong> and at the Warfield<\/strong>, nothing had prepared us for the quantum leap made by the band when we caught their 2001 shows<\/strong> at the Bowl in support of Kid A<\/strong> and Amnesiac<\/strong>.\u00a0 In those intervening years, Radiohead had ascended to the very top of the throne of live rock music.\u00a0 They confirmed this when they returned in 2008<\/strong> to the Bowl (with the most elaborate stage lighting we had seen until Thursday) in support of In Rainbows<\/strong>.\u00a0 And then lead singer, Thom Yorke<\/strong>, returned to the Bowl as a part of Atoms of Peace<\/strong> (along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea<\/strong> on bass) and delivered the show of the year in 2010<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The stage was thus set for another historic performance by the band at the Bowl, and they would not disappoint.\u00a0 Yorke and crew came out to rightful adulation and cacophonous-sound\/bombast and immediately kicked into Bloom<\/em><\/strong>, the opening track to last year’s Album of the Year<\/strong><\/a>, The King of Limbs<\/strong>.\u00a0 Once again the stage lighting and sound were astonishing, and the band focused on its complex techno-rock sound and songs for most of the evening.\u00a0 The full setlist can be seen below.\u00a0 Sure, we hankered a bit for 2001’s Bowl set-lists (no Fake Plastic Trees<\/em><\/strong> or Neil Young covers<\/strong> this time around), but this band refuses to play it safe and continues to evolve and re-invent itself.\u00a0 And so that means those moving, singalong choruses have (mostly) gone by the wayside, having been largely supplanted by techno-dance numbers.\u00a0 Make no mistake though, their audience still hears and mines the huge heart of this band amidst the lyrical haiku, the trembling wires and in Yorke’s gear-shifting keyboard mallets.\u00a0 And oh how the boys can sing!\u00a0 Thom Yorke<\/strong> struggled ever-so-briefly early in their set Thursday, but he more than made up for it by then lifting his game and his voice heavenward.\u00a0 With Yorke’s vocalisms, the audience seemed to alternate between shivers and smiles.\u00a0 And every time Ed O’Brien<\/strong> stepped to the microphone, we were overwhelmed by his harmonies (one particular encouragement for future tours:\u00a0 forget the cowbell and give us more Ed<\/strong>!!). Check out the Idioteque video below for a sample of Ed’s vocals.<\/p>\n

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Though at times we wished they had added Karma Police, Lucky<\/strong><\/em> and\/or Kid A<\/strong> (as they had done at other shows on this tour), the crowd fed off of the band’s palpable joy in concentrating on their new songs and sound (Yorke and O’Brien had smiles on their faces nearly the entirety of the evening, and the songs are so new they had to use cheat-sheets at times).\u00a0 Particular highlights of the evening were the new songs not even found on The King of Limbs, and especially Supercollider<\/strong><\/em>, Staircase, Daily Mail<\/strong><\/em> and Identikit<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Other highlights were Thom’s vocals on Nude<\/em><\/strong>(see far below for a perfect snippet), the beautiful, piano-led Codex<\/strong><\/em>, dancefastic Lotus Flower<\/strong><\/em> (viewable at bottom–“unfurl” away Thom!), Myxomatosis<\/strong><\/em>, our Best Song of 2011 Separator<\/em><\/strong>, and the driving Little By Little<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 And of course the crowd adored stalwart songs Idioteque<\/strong><\/em> and show-closer Paranoid Android<\/strong><\/em> (the latter’s singalong chorus was particularly apropos on this rainy evening:\u00a0 “Rain down, rain down, come on rain down on me, from a great height, from a great height, height”).\u00a0 And at that song’s end, the skies opened up in answer.<\/p>\n

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Other facets worth mentioning:\u00a0 previously-derided and underrated bass player, Colin Greenwood<\/strong>, has really upped his bass-playing ante. We particularly enjoyed some of the minimalist arrangements featuring Colin’s high-register bass playing.\u00a0 And of course you can never go wrong adding a duel-drummer rhythm section, and particularly when comprised of band member Phil Selway<\/strong> and tour-helper Clive Deamer<\/strong>.\u00a0 Further, Yorke’s<\/strong> superbly scratchy guitar-playing has rightfully come forward in the mix.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Jonny Greenwood<\/strong> has slipped himself a bit more into the background (at least on stage).\u00a0 This is is unfortunate given Greenwood’s intelligence and mega-talent, which was still seen aplenty including on bowed guitar and twisted knobs.<\/p>\n

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It all added up to what will undoubtedly be our show of the year for 2012.\u00a0 We can’t wait for their return to the Santa Barbara Bowl.\u00a0 Check out more pictures and our favorite found videos (in sequence) of the band at the Bowl below.\u00a0 In addition, check out most, if not all, of the set via the stream at U Stream TV<\/strong> below (via At Ease<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

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