Radiohead electrifies in long-awaited U.S. return
With just a few mumbled words and some jittery dance moves, Thom Yorke did the seemingly impossible. Playing to a sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 ecstatic fans at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, the grizzled Radiohead frontman took what is perhaps the band’s most despondent album yet, A Moon Shaped Pool, and rendered it onstage as one of the year’s most invigorating, can’t-miss live shows.
Running through almost the entire album (their ninth, released in May), the British rockers tested new arrangements that only got looser and more frenetic as they played: turning the anxiety-riddled Burn the Witch into a blazing stadium anthem, and the volatile Ful Stop into a head-nodding groove, which eventually erupted in a flurry of blistering guitar licks and crashing drums.
Despite plunging deep into Pool for much of the night, Yorke also sprinkled plenty of familiar favorites into the twohour concert — a move that should continue to delight fans as Radiohead plays the Garden again Wednesday, and two more shows at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium next month.
Among the highlights was In Rainbows opener 15 Step — which had Yorke skittishly darting across the stage to its syncopated rhythm — performed live for the first time since Radiohead started playing European festivals this summer.
Later on, Kid A cuts Everything in Its Right Place and Idioteque were markedly stripped down and sped up, as Yorke used a looping pedal to hypnotically livemix and distort his vocals.
After some hushed “thank yous” from Yorke, and casual waves from keyboardist Jonny Greenwood and bandmates, Radiohead left the stage to roaring cheers, but returned just a few minutes later for no less than two encores.
The first of which included soaring OK Computer track Let Down, per- formed for the first time in a decade, and culminated in Bodysnatchers, which was easily the loudest, most rollicking song of the night.
While some concertgoers may have crossed their fingers for an appearance by Creep or the rarefied True Love Waits during the second encore, Yorke instead opted for the more subdued Bloom and Street Spirit (Fade Out) to send off the devoted just as the clock hit 11 p.m.
Tuesday’s concert consisted primarily of hardcore fans wearing shirts emblazoned with the band’s toothy-bear logo, as well as a thoroughly engaged mix of twenty- and thirtysomethings, who politely kept the waving smartphone screens to a minimum.
As a whole, the hits-heavy show marks a welcome stateside return for Radiohead after a four-year absence, and should play well to broader audiences as the band hits festivals including Lollapalooza and Outside Lands this next month.